keystonehttp://desmogblog.com/taxonomy/term/6562/0
enTransCanada Cries Foul Over New Keystone XL Security Risk Analysishttp://desmogblog.com/2014/06/06/transcanada-keystone-xl-security-risk-analysis
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/crying-baby.jpg?itok=JcsGuLRq" width="200" height="133" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>It doesn’t take much to hurt the dirty energy industry’s feelings. Less than a day after NextGen Climate released a report detailing the vulnerabilities of the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline to a terrorist attack, the company fired back at the group claiming that they were being singled out.</p>
<p>The report was <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/04/keystone-xl-attacks_n_5447374.html">commissioned by NextGen Climate and produced by David Cooper</a>, a retired Command Master Chief Navy <span class="caps">SEAL</span>, who was part of the team that took down Osama bin Laden. </p>
<p>In his report, Cooper lays out some of the easier ways in which a terrorist can take advantage of the pipeline’s vulnerabilities. He described the pipeline as a “<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/04/keystone-xl-attacks_n_5447374.html">soft target,</a>” meaning that it doesn’t move, it doesn’t change, and there are huge blindspots along the route. </p>
<p><a href="http://desmogblog.com/2014/06/05/navy-seal-commander-behind-bin-laden-killing-keystone-xl-vulnerable-terrorism">DeSmogBlog’s Steve Horn</a> spoke with Cooper about the report, and you can <a href="http://desmogblog.com/2014/06/05/navy-seal-commander-behind-bin-laden-killing-keystone-xl-vulnerable-terrorism">read that story here</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/04/usa-keystone-vulnerability-idUSL1N0OL14Z20140604">Reuters has more: </a></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">Attackers could damage remote pump stations along the pipeline's route in the northern Great Plains with just 4 pounds (1.8 kg) of readily available 1960s-era explosives, Dave Cooper, a former Navy Seal, said in the 14-page NextGen report released Wednesday.</p>
<p>NextGen Climate was founded by billionaire and environmental activist <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-billionaire-steyer-looking-at-spending-on-legislative-races-20140603-story.html">Tom Steyer</a> who has been a target of the dirty energy industry since emerging on the political scene where he has <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-billionaire-steyer-looking-at-spending-on-legislative-races-20140603-story.html">vowed to spend millions in the next <span class="caps">U.S.</span> elections</a> to unseat climate change denying and anti-environment candidates. </p>
<p>Steyer’s name being behind the report has opened up the door for attacks from the industry, and <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/208292-transcanada-keystone-terror-threat-report-is-misleading">TransCanada has wasted no time</a> in trashing the new report. </p>
<p><a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/208292-transcanada-keystone-terror-threat-report-is-misleading">According to The Hill</a>, TransCanada rejected the NextGen study, issuing the following statement:</p>
<!--break-->
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">“Why has Tom Steyer, who is committed to killing Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> and the jobs and energy security it would provide, solely focusing on this pipeline alone?” TransCanada said. “If he were truly concerned about the safety of Americans then a broader assessment of all critical infrastructure would have been more appropriate.”</p>
<p>TransCanada believes that by deflecting attention onto other pipelines they can avoid scrutiny, but that is not the case here. As far back as 2003, <a href="http://www.iags.org/n0111041.htm">reports showed</a> that nearly every facet of the dirty energy industry would act as a prime target for terrorists. <a href="http://www.iags.org/n0111041.htm">The Institute for the Analysis of Global Security</a> released the following nearly 11 years ago:</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">Terrorist organizations have always been interested in targeting oil and gas facilities. Striking pipelines, tankers, refineries and oil fields accomplishes two desired goals: undermining the internal stability of the regimes they are fighting, and economically weakening foreign powers with vested interests in their region. In the past decade alone, there have been scores of attacks against oil targets primarily in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. These attacks have never received much attention and have been treated as part of the ‘industry’s risk.’</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">However, after the attacks on World Trade Center and the Pentagon, symbols of U.S.' economic and military dominance, terrorist organizations of global reach like al Qaeda have identified the world’s energy system as a major vulnerability and a certain way to deliver a blow to America's oil dependent economy as well as global economy at large. With attacks against transportation networks, military bases and government installations becoming more difficult to execute due to heightened security, terrorists looking for a big bang might find oil, to quote al Qaeda, the “umbilical cord and lifeline of the crusader community,” the object of the next major assault on the west, an assault that could wreak havoc with America’s economy and way of life.</p>
<p>If TransCanada is feeling singled out, it is because they are being singled out. And for good reason. Analysis has already been done on existing pipelines, and it only makes sense to assess the terror risk of a new pipeline. For TransCanada to believe that they are the only ones that have been scrutinized — to paint themselves as the victims — is a complete farce.</p>
<p>As mentioned above, Reuters says that attacks on oil pipelines are very rare, but a quick search reveals that they are a lot more common than the news agency reported. </p>
<p>For example, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (<span class="caps">FARC</span>) <a href="http://infosurhoy.com/en_GB/articles/saii/features/main/2013/09/09/feature-01">carried out at least 325 attacks on oil pipelines</a> between 2011 and 2013. <span class="caps">U.S.</span> intelligence sources also <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=130067">uncovered an al Qaeda plot</a> to attack oil pipelines in Saudi Arabia. <br /><br />
Between 2008 and 2009, British Columbia was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008%E2%80%9309_British_Columbia_pipeline_bombings">victim of at least five bombings</a> that targeted oil pipelines<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2385995/Al-Qaeda-terror-plot-blow-oil-pipelines-seize-key-ports-foiled-authorities-U-S-special-forces-prepare-action.html">. Intelligence agencies in Yemen uncovered more al Qeada plots</a> to blow up oil pipelines in their country. The list goes on and on.</p>
<p>And the industry is well aware of the threat that terrorists pose to its operations. In the <a href="http://www.pipelineandgasjournal.com/pipeline-security-new-technology-today%E2%80%99s-demanding-environment?page=show">May 2012 volume of the Pipeline and Gas Journal</a>, the threat of terrorist attacks on pipelines was addressed with an emphasis on the problems of monitoring for such activity:</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">In a continuing effort to remove the guesswork from pipeline operations and reduce costs, many techniques have been developed to address risks and maintenance needs in a strategic fashion. Common pipeline security measures include aerial surveillance, ground patrolling, installation of pipeline warning boards/markers, deployment of security personnel, and conducting awareness campaigns to educate habitants along the pipeline route. Advanced telecommunication systems and leak detection systems are also widely used to improve the monitoring and remote control of pipelines.</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">However, armed security guards cannot be everywhere at the same time. Closed-circuit television (<span class="caps">CCTV</span>) security cameras are effective for surveillance, but are less useful if not incorporated into a complete security system. Plus, their infrastructure costs are not economically viable. Radar is proven as a long-range water and surface-based solution, but again, is not economically viable due to the need for power and network connectivity.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.pipelineandgasjournal.com/pipeline-security-new-technology-today%E2%80%99s-demanding-environment?page=show">Pipeline and Gas Journal highlights</a> numerous ways to increase the safety of pipelines, thereby reducing not only the risk of a terrorist attack, but also the risk of a spill or leak. <br /><br />
But putting more effective monitoring into place would cost more money, and companies like TransCanada would rather bury their heads in the sands about the dangers of their pipelines than spend a few extra dollars to ensure the safety of the public.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6562">keystone</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6631">XL</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6584">pipeline</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6933">terrorist</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5938">Attack</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/16806">Target</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/16807">Terror</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/16808">Navy SEAL</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/12942">tom steyer</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5420">TransCanada</a></div></div></div>Fri, 06 Jun 2014 16:38:04 +0000Farron Cousins8203 at http://desmogblog.comThe "Significance" Trap: New Economic Analysis Finds that Keystone XL Would Increase Tar Sands Production, Carbon Emissionshttp://desmogblog.com/2014/03/16/significance-trap-new-economic-analysis-finds-keystone-xl-would-increase-tar-sands-production-carbon-emissions
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/7007303801_e4f240d906.jpg?itok=PV95iN6L" width="200" height="300" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>In its environmental assessment of the proposed Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline, the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> State Department severely underestimated the project’s impact on oil production, and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<p>That’s according to a rigorous economic analysis <a href="http://www.carbontracker.org/kxl">published in a new report by the Carbon Tracker Initiative</a>. Researchers found that, if constructed, the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline would increase global greenhouse gas emissions by roughly a whopping 5 gigatons over the course of its lifetime. For some perspective, that’s the equivalent of the annual emissions from 1,400 coal-fired power plants or 1 billion automobiles, according to the report’s authors.</p>
<p>As you may recall, in a speech last June at Georgetown University, <a href="http://desmogblog.com/2013/06/25/obama-pegs-fate-keystone-xl-climate-change-impact">President Obama explicitly stated</a> that he would approve the pipeline “only if this project doesn’t significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.”</p>
<p>In its recent environmental assessment, the <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/01/31/keystone-xl-final-environmental-impact-statement-released-still-flawed">State Department’s suggested that the pipeline</a> is “unlikely to significantly impact the rate of extraction in the oil sands,” thereby implying that it would pass President Obama’s stated climate test.<br /><br />
However, the Carbon Tracker report, called <a href="http://www.carbontracker.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Kxl-The-Significance-Trap_FINAL_03_03_2014.pdf">Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>: The “Significance” Trap (pdf)</a>, proves otherwise.</p>
<p>Using the State Department’s own numbers, Carbon Tracker researchers determined that the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline, if constructed, would increase the rate of extraction of tar sands, to the tune of roughly 510,000 barrels per day of bitumen (or roughly 730,000 barrels per day of DilBit, after dilution to allow it to flow through the pipeline). As Carbon Tracker researchers put it, “There is over 510kbpd of bitumen production which would benefit from even the narrowest improvement of margins.”</p>
<!--break-->
<p>Introducing the report on a call to reporters Thursday, Tom Steyer, founder of NextGen Climate, who stated that he did not fund the research, called Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> “the economic key to unlocking the tar sands and significantly expanding production, which would have major consequences for our climate.” Steyer explained that the State Department analysis “didn’t fully consider how the pipeline would impact the economics of tar sands extraction for producers,” an omission that the Carbon Tracker Initiative researchers set out to address.</p>
<p>Mark Fulton, a former economist with Deutsche Bank and one of the report’s authors, said on the call that the State Department’s biggest mistake was assuming that all of the transport capacity of the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline would be replaced by the construction of other new pipelines, the expansion of existing pipelines, or by rail. Fulton explained that the true economics of transport costs don’t back up that assumption.</p>
<p>The economic analysis is a bit complicated, but basically reveals that the price of oil would have to be higher in order to make shipping by rail profitable, a fact that the State Department’s assessment failed to consider.</p>
<p><span class="dquo">“</span>Following through the numbers in the [State Department’s] Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> market analysis, we found there is a significant amount of production that could be eneabled by the pipeline with a production cost of $48 to $60 [per barrel of oil],” said Fulton. This is charted out in the graph below, which shows how much more oil would be produced at various production cost ranges. Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> would bring production costs down within the ranges charted below. </p>
<p><img alt="" src="/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Screen%20Shot%202014-03-14%20at%207.25.18%20PM.png" style="width: 560px; height: 310px;" /></p>
<p>Carbon Tracker’s research actually backs up the public claims that th<span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">e tar sands industry and its boosters in the Canadian government have made about the necessity of the pipeline for expanding production. The <span class="caps">CEO</span> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">of tar sands giant Cenovus <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/oil-industry-rebuts-trash-talking-celebrity-critics/article16357980/">recently told <em>The Globe and Mail</em> </a>that “if there were no more pipeline expansions, I would have to slow down.” <br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/business/global/canadian-documents-suggest-shift-on-pipeline.html?_r=0">Joe Oliver, Canada's Natural Resources Minister, said</a>, “</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">In order for crude oil production to grow, the North American pipeline network must be expanded through initiatives, such as the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> Pipeline project.”</span></p>
<p>In essence, construction of the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> would fundamentally change the economics of tar sands production, lowering transport costs and increasing the price that could be fetched by the oil by delivering it for export to the global market.</p>
<p><span class="dquo">“</span>Right now they don’t have ability to get it to world oil price,” explained Steyer. “They’re selling it locally at big discounts. [Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>] changes the economics between the transport costs and realizable price of oil. The pipeline changes the economics of tar sands and enables much more of it to be producible at a profit.“</p>
<p><span class="dquo">“</span>These findings only confirm, in a big way, that Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> does not pass the president’s climate test and is not in the national interest,” added Steyer. </p>
<p><em>Photo: President Obama in front of portions of Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>'s southern leg in Cushing, Oklahoma, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/qodio/7007303801/sizes/m/in/photostream/">by Matt Wansley</a></em></p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone XL</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6562">keystone</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5420">TransCanada</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6577">pipelines</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/15539">carbon tracker initiative</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/15540">significance trap</a></div></div></div>Sun, 16 Mar 2014 13:00:00 +0000Ben Jervey7926 at http://desmogblog.comD.C. Court Rules Against Environmental Transparency, Threatening Public Health and Democracyhttp://desmogblog.com/2013/06/11/d-c-court-rules-against-environmental-transparency
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/gavel_1.jpg?itok=Ws-d5sXC" width="200" height="200" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Last week, the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit <a href="http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2013/u-s-court-of-appeals-rules-in-government-secrecy-case">ruled that trade deals can be exempted</a> from federal disclosure laws. The case revolved around a classified document related to an <span class="caps">FTAA</span> (Free Trade Area of the Americas) that contained information about environmental and public health and safety concerns.</p>
<p>The suit was filed by EarthJustice and the Center for International Environmental Law (<span class="caps">CIEL</span>), with <a href="http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2013/u-s-court-of-appeals-rules-in-government-secrecy-case"><span class="caps">CIEL</span> President Carroll Muffett issuing the following statement</a> after the ruling: <em>“It is with great irony that at a time when reports about government intrusion into individual privacy are escalating by the day, the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> government would go to such lengths to protect the confidentiality of its trade negotiations—the terms of which will have real impacts on its citizens. By denying the public access to these negotiations, the <span class="caps">US</span> has created a fundamental barrier to the development of democracy. Most troubling, we have already seen the <span class="caps">US</span> aggressively pushing information in a similar black box in other trade negotiations, like the recently announced Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union.</em>”</p>
<p><a href="http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2013/u-s-court-of-appeals-rules-in-government-secrecy-case">EarthJustice has more</a>:</p>
<!--break-->
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">At issue was a document that contains the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Trade Representative's interpretation of “in like circumstances,” meaning when the United States must treat foreign investors as favorably as it does domestic ones.</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;"><span class="caps">CIEL</span> argued that weak provisions in the North American Free Trade Agreement (<span class="caps">NAFTA</span>) led to a successful billion-dollar challenge to California's plan to phase out a toxic gasoline additive.</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">At oral arguments in February, the lawyers for the administration noted that the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Trade Representative has a long-standing policy of not revealing its position on the “in like circumstances” language. In particular, they argued, such a disclosure could adversely affect future negotiations.</p>
<p>The Court claims that the negotiations in the trade deal were exempt from federal disclosure, even if the information is pertinent to public safety, health, and the environment, in the interest of “<a href="http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2013/u-s-court-of-appeals-rules-in-government-secrecy-case">national defense and foreign policy.” </a>It is worth noting that the majority on the <span class="caps">DC</span> Court of Appeals <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_District_of_Columbia_Circuit">were appointed by Republican presidents</a>, many of whom have served for more than 25 years. There are currently three vacancies on the Court, which has <a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/06/obama-dc-circuit-nominees-filibuster-reform.php">sparked a political battle</a> in Washington.</p>
<p>The ruling has broad and potentially dangerous impacts for American citizens. Not only will it allow the government to keep secret details about potential hazards to our health, but it will also mean that the public will lose the ability to effectively weigh in on projects. Take, for example, the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> Pipeline: the public submitted comments and opinions to the State Department based on the information that had been presented during administration negotiations – and <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-23/keystone-xl-foes-say-1-million-comments-show-power-of-grassroots.html">one million signatures and comments</a> were delivered in opposition to the pipeline. Under the <span class="caps">D.C.</span> Court’s ruling, the public might still get to make comments, but they would be based on half-truths and guesswork.</p>
<p>The ruling also illustrates the mentality that has swept the government - in the name of “national security,” all bets are off. Privacy, transparency, and even our own health is being sacrificed in the name of “national security,” and the sad truth is that we're losing our security as a nation as a result.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6562">keystone</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/12826">Free Trade</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/12827">DC Court</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6683">Ruling</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5201">Earthjustice</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1327">national security</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6658">Foreign Policy</a></div></div></div>Tue, 11 Jun 2013 20:00:00 +0000Farron Cousins7236 at http://desmogblog.comTexas Refineries And Chemical Plants Releasing Tens Of Thousands Of Tons Of Pollutionhttp://desmogblog.com/texas-refineries-and-chemical-plants-releasing-tens-thousands-tons-pollution
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/gas-emissions_1.jpg?itok=iBcwAITs" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>A <a href="http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news_reports/07_18_2012.php">damning new report</a> from the Environmental Integrity Project (<span class="caps">EIP</span>) reveals some startling information regarding pollution in the state of Texas. According to the report, oil refineries and chemical plants in the state are releasing tens of thousands of tons of pollution every year, without as much as a peep from state regulators or the Environmental Protection Agency (<span class="caps">EPA</span>.)<br /><br />
Most of these emissions are the result of industrial accidents and other “equipment malfunctions” taking place at processing plants across the state. Among the more dangerous chemicals being released into the atmosphere and surrounding environment are sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, both of which are major contributors to ozone depletion.<br /><br />
A few <a href="http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news_reports/documents/20120718AccidentProneFinal.pdf">highlights from the new report</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
Every year, refineries, chemical plants, and natural gas facilities release thousands of tons of air pollution when production units break down, or are shut off, restarted or repaired. Most of these “emission events” release pollution through flares, leaking pipelines, tanks, or other production equipment. Information obtained from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (<span class="caps">TCEQ</span>) for the last three years shows just how significant that pollution can be.<br /><br />
Between 2009 and 2011, emission events at chemical plants, refineries, and natural gas operations released a combined total of more than 42,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and just over 50,000 tons of smog- forming Volatile Organic Compounds (<span class="caps">VOC</span>s), according to industry reports filed with <span class="caps">TCEQ</span>. See Table 1. These releases are in addition to the amounts released year-round during so-called “normal operations,” and are usually not included in the data the government uses to establish and enforce regulations, or to estimate their health impacts. Natural gas operations — which include, well heads, pipelines, compressors, boosters, and storage systems — accounted for more than 85% of total sulfur dioxide and nearly 80% of the <span class="caps">VOC</span>s released during these episodes. Both pollutants are linked to asthma attacks and other respiratory ailments, and can form fine particles that contribute to premature death from heart disease.<br /><br />
Upsets or sudden shutdowns can release large plumes of sulfur dioxide or toxic chemicals in just a few hours, exposing downwind communities to peak levels of pollution that are much more likely to trigger asthma attacks and other respiratory systems. The working class and minority populations typical of neighborhoods near refineries and chemical plants bear the brunt of this pollution.<br />
</blockquote>
<!--break-->
<p>As stated in the report, the amount of pollutants being released is based on estimates that are provided by industry, not by any regulatory agency. And as <span class="caps">EIP</span>’s independent research has shown (available in the report), the actual pollutant levels are likely much, much higher than those reported by the industry.<br /><br />
Their claim is based on the fact that the majority of these emissions are not monitored at all, and the flow rate of chemicals and gases resulting from a flare or equipment malfunction will vary wildly between events.<br /><br />
The following chart from <span class="caps">EIP</span> shows the biggest culprits in regards to total emissions of sulfur dioxide:<br /><br /><a href="http://s1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb321/fcousins1/?action=view&amp;current=EIPEmissionChartSulfurDioxide.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb321/fcousins1/EIPEmissionChartSulfurDioxide.jpg" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; width: 540px; height: 156px; " /></a><br /><br />
And these are the largest emitters of volatile organic compounds (<span class="caps">VOC</span>):<br /><br /><a href="http://s1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb321/fcousins1/?action=view&amp;current=EIPChartVOC.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb321/fcousins1/EIPChartVOC.jpg" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; width: 540px; height: 168px; " /></a><br /><br />
And here are the worst offenders, by number of “accidents” reported:<br /><br /><a href="http://s1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb321/fcousins1/?action=view&amp;current=EIPIncidentChart.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb321/fcousins1/EIPIncidentChart.jpg" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; width: 540px; height: 139px; " /></a><br /><br />
Again, most of the emissions are the result of what are called “accidents” or other “malfunctions” that might require full equipment shutdown. <a href="http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news_reports/documents/071812EIPTXrefineriesreportnewsreleaseFINAL2.doc"><span class="caps">EIP</span> director Eric Schaeffer said the following</a> regarding these so-called accidents: </p>
<blockquote>
<p><em><span class="dquo">“</span>Too many of these ‘accidents’ are the norm at some natural gas and chemical plants. These upsets can dump a lot of pollution in a few short hours, and some of them continue releasing benzene and other toxins for weeks. Many of these breakdowns – and the pollution that comes with them – could be prevented by upgrading pollution controls, improving maintenance, and recapturing and reusing gas instead of releasing it to the environment as pollution. The <span class="caps">US</span> <span class="caps">EPA</span> needs to crack down on polluters who seem to think that these events – no matter how many or how severe – somehow excuse them from the Clean Air Act.”</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p><br /><span class="caps">EIP</span> hosted a conference call on Wednesday in correlation with the release of the report. During the call, a common theme heard from the speakers was that the <span class="caps">EPA</span> is doing very little, if anything, to address the issue.<br /><br />
It is because of this lack of action, that the <span class="caps">EIP</span> has sent the agency notice that they intend to file a formal suit against the agency within 60 days if they do not do their “mandatory duty” and begin enforcing the rules at these Texas plants.<br /><br />
Their suit is based on <a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/7430">Section 130 of the Clean Air Act</a>, which requires the agency to adjust their methods of estimating emissions if the current estimations are inadequate. They are also required to revise their estimates every three years, and as we learned on the conference call, the same standards have been in place in Texas for decades.<br /><br />
The <span class="caps">EIP</span> also listed in their report a few points about how these industries are able to skirt the few <span class="caps">EPA</span> restrictions that are in place:</p>
<blockquote>
The Clean Air Act makes polluters strictly liable for their mistakes, but loopholes in regulations either excuse violations that result from malfunctions altogether, or allow polluters to escape penalties by claiming that such mishaps are beyond the control of plant operators. As a result, federal or state agencies rarely even investigate these events, much less take enforcement action. <span class="caps">EPA</span>’s current standards are so relaxed that even the most serious violations are excused, inviting plant operators to defer improvements that could make plants safer — and sometimes even turn a profit.<br />
</blockquote>
<p>As we were told on the call, and as <a href="http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news_reports/07_18_2012.php">the <span class="caps">EIP</span> report points out</a>, it is those communities with fewer economic resources that suffer the most from the pollution being emitted by these chemical and energy plants. If the <span class="caps">EPA</span> continues to let these violations go unpunished and industry remains unaccountable for their actions, the state of Texas could easily become a toxic wasteland for generations to come, with those who have the greatest need for government protections being the victims in this tragedy.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/epa">EPA</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/640">exxon</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/917">texas</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1268">shell</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/3930">Lisa Jackson</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5200">Environmental Integrity Project</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5881">Emission</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6562">keystone</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7897">EIP</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9699">Sulfur Dioxide</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9700">Volatile Organic Compound</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9701">State</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9702">Inaction</a></div></div></div>Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:41:12 +0000Farron Cousins6431 at http://desmogblog.comWhat To Expect When You're Electing: Part 2 - Mitt Romneyhttp://desmogblog.com/what-expect-when-you-re-electing-part-2-mitt-romney
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/Romney.jpg?itok=it5SBvok" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>In <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/what-expect-when-you-re-electing-part-1-what-s-stake">Part 1</a> of this series, we explored the overall environmental issues that are facing the U.S., mostly as a part of coordinated attacks by politicians in Washington. In the next few articles, we’ll take a look at what each candidate has said or done in regards to both environmental and energy issues.<br /><br />
At this point in the race, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States, a title that will become official after the <a href="http://www.gopconvention2012.com/">Republican convention</a> in August. Because Romney previously served as a governor, we have the benefit of looking at what he’s actually done when placed in charge, not just committee votes or proposed legislation.<br /><br />
And just like his record on other issues, Romney’s environmental record is one that has constantly changed to fit the political landscape. He has somehow managed to take both sides of virtually every major environmental issue, with his recent positions being more in line with that of the extremist, climate change denying branch of the Republican Party.<br /><br />
But the shift in ideas and rhetoric for Romney (which has quickly become his trademark as a candidate) is actually also in line with that of other major Republican candidates.</p>
<!--break-->
<p><br />
Before the 2008 election, Republican Senator John McCain had been a <a href="http://grist.org/article/mccain_factsheet/full/">very vocal critic</a> of the Bush administration's lackadaisical, and often hostile, approach towards the environment. He was the first member of Congress to put forth legislation to actually address climate change, and he was a vocal proponent of action on climate change via <a href="http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/marchers/john-mccain/">StopGlobalWarming.org</a>.<br /><br />
But things changed when he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate, and his campaign began touting the ridiculous line “Drill baby drill.” His positions on environmental issues <a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/77913//">moved further to the right</a>, and his past accomplishments became overshadowed by his <a href="http://www.salon.com/2008/09/20/john_mccain_environment/">newfound desire to please the dirty energy industry</a> and appeal to the Tea Party base of the Republican Party.<br /><br />
It appears that Mitt Romney is following in McCain’s disastrous footsteps.</p>
<p>During his tenure as governor of Massachusetts, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-09-07/Romneys-energy-rhetoric-differs-from-his-record-as-governor/50304822/1">Romney’s environmental record</a> is something that he should be proud of, for the most part. He established a state fund for green, renewable energy projects; approved bills that would set aside land for solar power harvesting stations; and understood that investing in clean energy technology would be an economic boon to the state, in both dollars and jobs.<br /><br />
His green energy fund began with a $15 million investment from the state, a modest amount, but at least it was a start. But just seven years after he touted the state’s involvement in green energy investing, Romney took a shot at President Obama’s similar initiatives, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-09-07/Romneys-energy-rhetoric-differs-from-his-record-as-governor/50304822/1">telling Republicans that the government</a> <i>“should not be in the business of steering investment toward particular politically favored approaches.”</i><br /><br />
And what about Romney’s admission as governor that investing in clean energy would create jobs? Today, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-09-07/Romneys-energy-rhetoric-differs-from-his-record-as-governor/50304822/1">this is what he says about that issue</a>: <i>“To begin with, wind and solar power, two of the most ballyhooed forms of alternative fuel, remain sharply uncompetitive on their own with conventional resources such as oil and natural gas in most applications.”</i><br /><br />
The flip-flops don’t end there, either. While governor, Romney touted the benefits of cap and trade systems, and implemented a plan that he hoped would serve as a blueprint for the rest of the nation. But as <a href="http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/politics/blogs/mitt-romneys-environmental-record">Mother Nature Network points out</a>, this is what he’s now saying on the campaign trail about cap and trade in America: <i>“We're going to move our new facilities from the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> to China, where they don't have those agreements. You end up polluting and putting just as much <span class="caps">CO</span>2 in the air because the big energy users go there. That's why these ideas make sense, but only on a global basis. They don't call it 'America warming.' They call it 'global warming.'”</i><br /><br />
His <a href="http://www.green-blog.org/2011/08/17/mitt-romney-michele-bachmann-and-rick-perry/">positions on oil drilling have remained constant</a>, but that doesn’t make them good ideas. He’s typically always been in favor of increased domestic and offshore oil drilling, and he’s a staunch supporter of opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling. As <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/06/09/496886/romney-energy-plan-includes-drilling-virtually-every-part-of-us-with-no-protections-even-for-national-parks/?mobile=nc">Think Progress reports</a>, if elected president, Mitt Romney would open up virtually every piece of federal land for oil drilling, including national parks and wildlife preserves.<br /><br />
On the big issue – whether or not he agrees with scientists and rational people that anthropogenic climate change is occurring and that it’s a threat – he has no idea. In the past, <a href="http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/politics/blogs/mitt-romneys-environmental-record">he acknowledged that climate change was real</a> and that it was caused by man, but today he’s singing a different tune. While he freely admits that scientists agree climate change is real, he also says that there is plenty to be skeptical about. Here’s what <a href="http://aboutmittromney.com/environment.htm">Romney said in March 2010 about climate change</a>:<br /> </p>
<blockquote>
“Scientists are nearly unanimous in laying the blame for rising temperatures on greenhouse gas emissions. Of course there are also reasons for skepticism. The earth may be getting warmer, but there have been numerous times in the earth’s history when temperatures have been warmer than they are now. Climate cycles with great variations in temperature predate the greenhouse gas emissions of the past three centuries, and they even predate the rise of human populations. In fact, climate change has been going on from the beginning of the world; it is certainly not a new phenomenon. Even the apparent unity among scientists is not a sure indicator of scientific fact.”<br />
</blockquote>
<p>Once again, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-romney-energy-20120613,0,1068265.story">Romney is trying to have it both ways on the issue</a>. He hopes to woo those who believe in science with one hand, while embracing the fringe climate change deniers with the other. He believes that if he stays close to the middle and refuses to take a clear stance, he’ll gain everyone’s support. 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry can tell you how well that strategy works in national elections.<br /><br />
When not running from his own record on environmental and energy issues, he’s been busy <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2012/05/09/romney-attacks-obama-energy-policies.html">attacking President Obama over his</a>. In early May of this year, <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2012/05/09/romney-attacks-obama-energy-policies.html">Romney told supporters</a> that the President’s policies were hindering oil and gas development, and therefore causing the spike in gas and energy prices that was affecting most Americans. Later that month, Romney took to the airwaves, <a href="http://articles.cnn.com/2012-03-18/politics/politics_romney-obama-energy_1_obama-energy-policies-gas-prices-mitt-romney?_s=PM:POLITICS">courtesy of Fox News</a>, to again make the <a href="http://desmogblog.com/republican-claims-about-gas-prices-demonstrate-lack-knowledge-about-free-market">debunked claim</a> that President Obama was the one responsible for the spike in gasoline prices.<br /><br />
Unfortunately for Mitt Romney, his constant flip-flopping on environmental and energy issues has not proven to be a payday for the candidate. Sure, the multi-millionaire isn’t hurting for campaign cash, but the dirty energy industry has been less than generous so far in the 2012 cycle with Romney. To date, the industry as a whole (oil, gas, mining, electric utilities, etc.) has <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/indus.php?cycle=2012&amp;id=N00000286">only pumped $2.9 million</a> into Romney’s campaign, a relatively small amount in a post-Citizens United America that allows for unlimited amounts of corporate cash in elections.<br /><br />
Overall, Mitt Romney isn’t one that should be trusted on environmental issues, based mostly on his rhetoric, not his actions. Eight years ago he would have been considered and environmental champion, but today, he’s just another politician trying to have his cake and eat it, too.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/627">Fox News</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1004">economy</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1286">oil</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2257">mitt romney</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2327">environment</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2474">cap and trade</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4174">jobs</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5693">Policy</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6499">Drilling</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6562">keystone</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7147">Company</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7200">Talking Point</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9505">Donations</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9506">Flip Flop</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9507">Achievement</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9508">Anwar</a></div></div></div>Fri, 06 Jul 2012 14:00:00 +0000Farron Cousins6391 at http://desmogblog.comB.C. Protest This Saturday to Stop Warren Buffett's BNSF Coal Trainshttp://desmogblog.com/b-c-protest-saturday-stop-warren-buffett-s-bnsf-coal-trains
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/shutterstock_14976709.jpg?itok=-myWFL_i" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett">Warren Buffett</a>, the <a href="http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/">third wealthiest man on the planet</a> (net worth: <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/">$44 billion</a>), often referred to as the “<a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/070729/6intro.htm">Oracle of Omaha</a>,” is the target of a May 5 action called for by <a href="http://stopcoal.ca/">Stop Coal <span class="caps">B.C.</span></a> Well, not Buffett directly, but a rail company he owns through his massive holding company, <a href="http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/">Berkshire Hathaway</a>: Burlington Northern Santa Fe (<span class="caps">BNSF</span>) Railway.</p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BNSF_Railway"><span class="caps">BNSF</span> Railway</a> is the second largest freight rail company in the United States and the exclusive carrier of thermal coal from coal basins in the northwestern <span class="caps">U.S.</span> to docks in British Columbia, where the dirty coal is exported to the global market, primarily to Asia.</p>
<p>The action calls for activists to blockade <span class="caps">BNSF</span>'s <a href="http://stopcoal.ca/letter-to-warren-buffet">four coal-loaded freight trains</a> from reaching their final destination for the day and in the process, risk arrest. It is part of <a href="http://350.org/">350.org</a>'s broader “<a href="http://350.org/en/about/blogs/getting-media-connect-dots">Connect the Dots</a>” event taking place on Saturday, with actions planned throughout the world.</p>
<p>The Stop Coal B.C. <a href="http://stopcoal.ca/Action">call to action</a> reads,</p>
<!--break-->
<blockquote>
<p>We're doing this because we have to. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/09/fossil-fuel-infrastructure-climate-change">The science is solid</a>: if we don't get to work, within the decade we are going to run out of time to avoid runaway global warming. It's not enough any more just to go to rallies, write letters, and have dinner in the dark once a year. We're aware of what is at stake, and we have a moral obligation to do our best to stop the things that are destroying the planet.</p>
<p>We really don't want to spend the day on the tracks and risk arrest by stopping coal trains, but we're running out of options. We're forced to take this dramatic step to get government's attention, because in addition to ignoring the scientific warnings, they've refused to respond to our repeated requests for a public discussion on this issue. </p>
<p>We need a province-wide discussion about what is at risk for our families and communities, and how British Columbia can start working towards a healthy and secure future that is fair for all. We hope that discussion starts on May 5th.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The activists are planning to stop all loaded <span class="caps">BNSF</span> coal trains traveling in a northwest direction “that approach mile 122 (White Rock pier) on the New Westminster Subdivision, Northwest Division,” <a href="http://stopcoal.ca/letter-to-warren-buffet">explains a letter</a> written directly to Warren Buffett from Stop Coal <span class="caps">B.C.</span> “From dawn to dusk on May 5th we will also stop all unloaded coal trains traveling [southeast] approaching mile 122.” </p>
<p>Stop Coal <span class="caps">B.C.</span> also made it clear that they are attempting to stop the coal trains, not passenger rail trains, which they support as a way to remove cars from the road, moving in the direction of a society maximizing the use of public transit. When the Amtrak roles through, they will step off the tracks.</p>
<p>Also included in the call to action's <a href="http://stopcoal.ca/letter-to-warren-buffet">letter to Buffett</a> is a request of him to mandate that <span class="caps">BNSF</span> exit the business of coal transport:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Since we know what is at stake we feel a moral obligation to do what we can to help prevent this looming disaster. On Saturday May 5th that means stopping your coal trains from reaching our ports.</p>
<p>(Snip)</p>
<p>What we can't understand is why you allow your railway, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, to continue shipping vast amounts of <span class="caps">US</span> coal out of Canadian ports to be burned in Asia. No matter where this coal is burned, it brings us closer to a climatic point of no return. </p>
<p>(Snip)</p>
<p>You are in many ways an important figure of conscience in the world. We appeal to you to seize this opportunity and make a bold decision on coal. With your support we can ensure a healthy future for our children and people around the world.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is no small fight Stop Coal <span class="caps">B.C.</span> is waging, to say the least.<br /><br />
As they explained in a primer emailed to DeSmogBlog, </p>
<blockquote>
<p><br />
“Over twelve million tonnes of thermal coal was shipped out of the Port of Vancouver last year. Much of that is now coming from the United States’ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Powder_River_Basin">Powder River Basin</a> coal bed. Thermal coal from Wyoming and Montana’s Powder River Basin is also being shipped up to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Prince_Rupert_Port#Ridley_Terminals">Ridley Terminal</a> in <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Prince_Rupert_Port">Prince Rupert</a> for export. Approximately two coal trains a day, each carrying roughly 13,000 tonnes of coal, cross our Washington State border en route to <span class="caps">B.C.</span> ports.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Coal use in the U.S., as <a href="http://grist.org/"><em>Grist</em></a>'s <a href="http://grist.org/author/david-roberts/">David Roberts</a> explained recently, is <a href="http://grist.org/coal/u-s-coal-is-on-the-decline-and-utility-execs-know-it/">on the decline</a> in the U.S. – mostly due to the <a href="http://desmogblog.com/fracking-the-future/" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none; ">domestic fracking boom</a> – so coal mining companies <a href="http://grist.org/coal/fighting-coal-export-terminals-it-matters/">need the global export market</a> to keep afloat. DeSmogBlog's Ben Jervey recently <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/exporting-coal-struggling-u-s-coal-industry-trying-stay-relevant-shipping-through-northwest">tackled the topic</a>, as well.</p>
<p>The ties that bind Buffett to King Coal go far above and beyond B.C., though.</p>
<p>Buffett also owns a major stake in coal-fired power plants, via another corporation held under the auspices of Berkshire Hathaway. Further, <span class="caps">BNSF</span> also transports tons of coal throughout the contiguous lower 48 in the <span class="caps">U.S.</span></p>
<h3>
Buffett, King Coal and Obama</h3>
<p>Energy investor <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/nigamarora">Nigam Arora</a> explained some of these ties in a recent article appearing in <em>Forbes</em>, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2012/03/18/buffett-wont-dig-deeper-into-coal-should-be-like-boone-and-go-for-gas/">writing</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owns <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=MidAmerican_Energy">MidAmerican Energy</a> and Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Burlington is a rail road and MidAmerican owns a utility that relies heavily on coal. MidAmerican Energy is the operator of a 1600 megawatt four unit <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Council_Bluffs_Energy_Center">coal-fired power plant in Council Bluffs, Iowa</a>, commonly known as Walter Scott, Jr. Energy Center.</p>
<p>According to Sue Sturgis, “<a href="http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/01/coals-ticking-timebomb-could-disaster-strike-a-coal-ash-dump-near-you.html">Coal’s ticking timebomb: Could disaster strike a coal ash dump near you?</a>,” Institute for Southern Studies, January 4, 2009, Council Bluffs Energy Center was ranked 35th on the list of most polluting coal plant, with 1,092,320 pounds of coal combustion waste released to surface.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Author and journalist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Biggers">Jeff Biggers</a> took his muckraking a step further in a March 2011 article titled, “<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/all-the-presidents-coal-m_b_841400.html">All the President's (Coal) Men: Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Obama's Wyoming Giveaway</a>,” unearthing the unholy alliance between Buffett, <span class="caps">BNSF</span>, Obama, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bill_Gates">Bill Gates</a> and King Coal. He wrote, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>President Obama needs to be called out for his less than transparent catering to his long-time billionaire and coal-profiteering friends.</p>
<p>Consider this: One month after <a href="http://www.ktvq.com/news/gates-and-buffet-visit-wyoming-why-/">jointly visiting</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Arch_Coal">Arch Coal</a>'s mammoth <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Black_Thunder_Mine">Black Thunder strip mine</a> in Wyoming with a fleet of nine private jets, billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett <a href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/obama-meets-with-buffett-and-gates/">sat in President Obama's Oval Office on December 14th</a> and discussed ways to improve the economy.</p>
<p>As the <span class="caps">CEO</span> of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett <a href="http://www.investingdaily.com/id/18175/warren-buffett-is-betting-big-on-coal.html">understands the economics of coal better than anyone</a>: He owns the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad that <a href="http://www.railroad.net/environmentalists-outraged-over-increased-bnsf-coal-shipments-340.html">transports</a> most of Wyoming's vast coal supply around the country, along with the utility company, MidAmerican Energy, which operates 11 coal-fired power plants, including <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wyoming_and_coal">four in Wyoming</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Buffett/Gates trip Biggers covered took place roughly one year after another key Buffett/Gates <a href="http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=ce6abff0-6707-4297-9e4c-2f9ae2210a7d">visit to the Alberta Tar Sands in August 2008</a>, in which the two of them, according to an unidentified source, “took in the oilsands, apparently with awe.”</p>
<h3>
“The Best Democracy Money Can Buy”</h3>
<p>As covered in a <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/warren-buffett-exposed-oracle-omaha-and-tar-sands">recent investigation by DeSmogBlog</a>, Buffett stands to make billions of dollars off of Alberta Tar Sands development, via <span class="caps">BNSF</span>'s transport capacity, with or without the <a href="http://desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/5139">Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline</a>, a pipeline which has been at the center of the North American climate and energy debate. </p>
<p>Buffett also is a major contributor to Barack Obama, whose campaign is <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/04/barack-obama-warren-buffett-campaign-cash">using the Buffett name frequently</a> to raise cash for the 2012 election.</p>
<p>As of October 2011, Buffett has given over <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/usearch/index.php?q=warren+buffett&amp;searchButt_clean.x=0&amp;searchButt_clean.y=0&amp;searchButt_clean=Submit&amp;cx=010677907462955562473%3Anlldkv0jvam&amp;cof=FORID%3A11">$60,000</a> to the Democratic National Committee, which the Democratic Party uses to dole out to various Democratic candidates' electoral campaigns, according to the Center for Responsive Politics' <em>Open Secrets</em> database. He has given another <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/search.php?cid=N00009638&amp;name=Buffett%2C+Warren&amp;employ=%28any+employer%29&amp;state=%28all%29&amp;zip=%28any+zip%29&amp;submit=OK&amp;amt=a&amp;sort=A">$5,000</a> exclusively to President Barack Obama, also according to <em>Open Secrets</em>. </p>
<p>This is, of course, is the money that can be publicly tracked. Then there's the totally secret <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Super_PAC">Super <span class="caps">PAC</span></a> money flowing into dark money fronts like <a href="http://www.prioritiesusaaction.org/">Priorities <span class="caps">USA</span> Action</a>, an<a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/165733/after-citizens-united-attack-super-pacs"> after-product</a> of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_United#Supreme_Court_decision_in_Citizens_United_v._Federal_Election_Commission"><em>Citizens United</em> <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Supreme Court decision</a>.</p>
<p>Investigative journalist <a href="http://www.gregpalast.com/">Greg Palast</a> wrote his book “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_Democracy_Money_Can_Buy">The Best Democracy Money Can Buy</a>” in 2002. The title of his book is more true than ever before 10 years later.</p>
<p><strong>Image Credit</strong>: <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-226813p1.html">StonePhotos</a> | <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&amp;search_source=search_form&amp;version=llv1&amp;anyorall=all&amp;safesearch=1&amp;searchterm=bnsf+coal&amp;search_group=&amp;orient=&amp;search_cat=&amp;searchtermx=&amp;photographer_name=&amp;people_gender=&amp;people_age=&amp;people_ethnicity=&amp;people_number=&amp;commercial_ok=&amp;color=&amp;show_color_wheel=1#id=14976709&amp;src=2cd6f1b9b6e1679c721fb963300aa51d-1-0">ShutterStock</a></p>
<p><strong>Update</strong>: DeSmogBlog has learned that Canada's leading energy-environment economist, <a href="http://markjaccard.com/">Mark Jaccard</a> is partaking in the action.</p>
<p>He has won the Nobel Peace Prize as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Donner Prize for top policy book in Canada with his book <em>Sustainable Fossil Fuels</em> and the <span class="caps">BC</span> Academic of the Year Prize. He is Convening Lead Author for Sustainable Energy Policy with the upcoming Global Energy Assessment, an initiative of the world's leading experts in sustainable energy. He is the former Chair and <span class="caps">CEO</span> of the <span class="caps">BC</span> Utilities Commission. </p>
<p>In a statement released to the press, he stated why he'll be taking part in the blockade:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This Saturday, May 5, at dawn I'm joining other British Columbians in White Rock at the pier to stop Burlington Northern Santa Fe coal trains from reaching our ports. Like others, I'm willing to engage in civil disobedience and risk arrest on Saturday to emphasize how important it is that we take urgent action to stop the actions that cause climate change.</p>
<p>The window of opportunity for avoiding a high risk of runaway, irreversible climate change is closing quickly. Within this decade we will either have steered away from disaster, or have locked ourselves onto a dangerous course. Our governments continue to ignore the warnings of scientists and push forward with policies that will accelerate the burning of fossil fuels. Private interests – coal, rail, oil, pipeline companies and the rest – continue to push their profit driven agenda, heedless of the impact on the rest of us.</p>
<p>This has to stop. We can't comfort ourselves by thinking “if it were really that bad, government would do something about it.” It is that bad, and what government is doing in response is entirely inadequate.</p>
<p>Putting myself in a situation where I may be accused of civil disobedience is not something I have ever done before. It is not something I ever expected to be doing or wanted to do. But the current willingness of especially our federal government to brazenly take actions that ensure we cannot meet scientifically and economically sound greenhouse gas reduction targets for Canada and the planet leaves me with no alternative. I now ask myself how our children, when they look back decades from now, will have expected us to have acted today. When I think about that, I conclude that every sensible and sincere person, who cares about this planet and can see through lies and delusion motivated by money, should be doing what I and others are now prepared to do.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>I pledge, along with everyone else taking part on Saturday, that my actions will be peaceful, non-violent and respectful of others. There will be no property damage. We will conduct ourselves in a safe, open and transparent manner. We are putting ourselves on the line Saturday because our future is at risk and we have to stand up for it.</p>
</blockquote>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/grist">Grist</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/calgary-herald">Calgary Herald</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/oil-sands">oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/662">coal</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/730">forbes</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/763">washington state</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1165">Alberta</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1520">Barack Obama</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1570">bill gates</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2509">alberta tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2702">obama</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4343">david roberts</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4817">Citizens United v. FEC</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5139">keystone xl pipeline</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5194">Center for Responsive Politics</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5207">open secrets</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5671">Arch Coal</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5712">Citizens United</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5856">TransCanada Corporation</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone XL</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6433">fracking the future</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6562">keystone</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7174">Bakken Shale</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7461">Warren Buffett</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7462">Buffett Tax</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7463">Berkshire Hathaway</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7554">Port Arthur</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7923">Wyoming</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8201">Cushing</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8239">Oracle of Omaha</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8243">Burlington Northern Santa Fe</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8244">BNSF</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8646">Nigam Arora</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8647">Arora Group</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8648">Forbes Magazine</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8649">MidAmerican Energy</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8650">Council Bluffs</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8651">Iowa</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8652">Council Bluffs Energy Center</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8653">Bakken</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8654">Keystone Pipeline</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8655">King Coal</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8657">Sue Sturgis</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8658">Super PAC</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8659">Priorities USA Action</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8660">Democratic Party</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8661">Institute for Southern Studies</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8662">Greg Palast</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8663">Black Thunder</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8664">Black Thunder Coal Mine</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8958">coal exports</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9051">Stop Coal B.C.</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9052">B.C. British Columbia</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9053">BNSF Railway</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9054">Powder River Basin</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9055">Ridley Terminal</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9056">Prince Rupert</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9057">Coal Transport</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9058">Coal Transportation</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9059">Democratic National Comittee</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9060">The Best Democracy Money Can Buy</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9064">Ben Jervey</a></div></div></div>Thu, 03 May 2012 19:46:18 +0000Steve Horn6139 at http://desmogblog.comObama Sojourns to "Pipeline Crossroads of the World" for Campaign Speech http://desmogblog.com/obama-sojourns-pipeline-crossroads-world-campaign-speech
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/Cushing%20.jpg?itok=KYDGCyEG" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>It's the multi-pronged fight that never seems to end.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/tarsands">Alberta Tar Sands</a> have been near the forefront of the North American energy and climate debate, thanks in large part to growing public concern and grassroots efforts like <a href="http://www.tarsandsaction.org/">Tar Sands Action</a>, a campaign led by climate activists to block construction of the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline.</p>
<p>The temporary derailing of Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> by President Obama - who in January <a href="http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2012/01/18/breaking-keystone-xl-denied/" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none; ">delayed permission</a> to construct the pipeline for the foreseeable future - was labeled a “<a href="http://www.tarsandsaction.org/keystone-xl-victory-stop-tar-sands/">victory</a>” by many activists. </p>
<p>But complicating the “victory” narrative, Obama later <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/02/27/433093/transcanada-to-build-southern-portion-of-keystone-xl-pipeline/">granted permission</a> to TransCanada Corporation to build the southern segment of the pipeline, the <a href="http://www.transcanada.com/5641.html">Cushing Extension</a>, sometimes also referred to as the <a href="http://www.transcanada.com/cushing.html">Cushing Marketlink Project</a>, which will run from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cushing,_Oklahoma">Cushing, Oklahoma</a> to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Arthur,_Texas">Port Arthur, Texas</a>. </p>
<p>Pandering to Big Oil, Obama will visit Cushing on Thursday, the self-proclaimed “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cushing_pipeline_crossroads_sign.jpg" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none; ">Pipeline Crossroads of the World</a>,” to give a stump speech for his 2012 election campaign.</p>
<p>The <em>Stillwater News Press</em> <a href="http://www.stwnewspress.com/local/x1284940645/Cushing-abuzz-about-Obama-visit" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none; ">explained</a> the rationale for the visit this way:</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; ">The White House has announced the president will be in Cushing Thursday to discuss his '<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/02/27/431988/all-of-the-above-obama-names-his-failed-presidency/" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none; ">all-of-the-above</a>' energy policy…Thursday appears to some locals as an opportune time for Obama, who said he supports the southern leg, to get on board on the northern segment of the 36-inch pipeline from Canada.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; "><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/03/19/obama-keystone-oklahoma.html" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none; "><em><span class="caps">CBC</span> News</em> reports</a> that “Obama will make a speech at a storage yard that's holding pipes to be used to build the pipeline.” </p>
<p>As the old adage goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” </p>
<!--break--></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/oil-sands">oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/917">texas</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1165">Alberta</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1267">big oil</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2509">alberta tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2580">alberta oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2800">natural gas</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5133">fracking</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5137">hydraulic fracturing</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5139">keystone xl pipeline</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5420">TransCanada</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5565">shale gas</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5856">TransCanada Corporation</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone XL</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5863">oklahoma</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6344">unconventional gas</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6562">keystone</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7174">Bakken Shale</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7554">Port Arthur</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7830">CBC News</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8199">Cushing MarketLink</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8201">Cushing</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8202">Cushing Extension</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8206">Gas Flaring</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8243">Burlington Northern Santa Fe</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8244">BNSF</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8654">Keystone Pipeline</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8665">Stillwater News Press</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8666">flaring</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8667">natural gas flaring</a></div></div></div>Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:03:25 +0000Steve Horn6142 at http://desmogblog.comWarren Buffett Exposed: The Oracle of Omaha and the Tar Sandshttp://desmogblog.com/warren-buffett-exposed-oracle-omaha-and-tar-sands
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/Warren%20Buffett%20Barack%20Obama.png?itok=fNSc-bev" alt="Credit: Pete Souza, Office of the President" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>On January 23, <em>Bloomberg News</em> <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/01/23/bloomberg_articlesLY20WE6K50Z001-LY9YF.DTL&amp;type=printable">reported</a> Warren Buffett's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BNSF_Railway">Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (<span class="caps">BNSF</span>)</a>, owned by his lucrative holding company <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkshire_Hathaway">Berkshire Hathaway</a>, stands to benefit greatly from President Barack Obama’s recent <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/demise-keystone-xl-means-more-bakken-shale-gas-flaring">cancellation of the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline</a>. </p>
<p class="p1">If built, TransCanada's <a href="http://desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> </a>(<span class="caps">KXL</span>) pipeline would carry <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/tarsands">tar sands</a> crude, or bitumen (“<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilbit">dilbit</a>”) from Alberta, <span class="caps">B.C.</span> down to Port Arthur, Texas, where it would be <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2011/08/31/report-exporting-energy-security-keystone-xl-exposed/">sold on the global export market</a>. </p>
<p class="p1">If not built, as <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/demise-keystone-xl-means-more-bakken-shale-gas-flaring">revealed recently by DeSmogBlog</a>, the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side, and could include increased levels of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/business/energy-environment/in-north-dakota-wasted-natural-gas-flickers-against-the-sky.html?pagewanted=all">ecologically hazardous</a> gas flaring in the Bakken Shale, or else many other pipeline routes moving the prized dilbit to crucial global markets.</p>
<p class="p1">Rail is among the most important infrastructure options for ensuring tar sands crude still moves to key global markets, and the industry is pursuing rail actively. But transporting tar sands crude via rail is in many ways a dirtier alternative to the <span class="caps">KXL</span> pipeline. “Railroads too present environmental issues. Moving crude on trains produces more global warming gases than a pipeline,” <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/01/23/bloomberg_articlesLY20WE6K50Z001-LY9YF.DTL&amp;type=printable">explained Bloomberg</a>.</p>
<p class="p1">A key mover and shaker behind the push for more rail shipments is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett">Warren Buffett</a>, known by some as the <a href="http://www.theoracleofomaha.com/">“Oracle of Omaha”</a> – of “<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2091777/Bill-Melinda-Gates-Foundation-donates-750m-fight-AIDS-TB-malaria.html">Buffett Tax</a>” fame – and the <a href="http://www.forbes.com/wealth/billionaires">third richest man in the world</a>, with a net worth of $39 billion. With or without Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>, Warren Buffett stands to profit enormously from multiple aspects of the Alberta Tar Sands project. He also, importantly, maintains close ties with President Barack Obama.</p>
<!--break-->
<h3 class="p1">
Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, <span class="caps">BNSF</span> and the Tar Sands</h3>
<p>Many eyebrows were raised in August 2008, when two of the richest men on the planet, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, sojourned to Alberta’s tar sands patch. The <i>Calgary Herald</i> <a href="http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=ce6abff0-6707-4297-9e4c-2f9ae2210a7d"><span class="s1">wrote</span></a> “they took in the oilsands, apparently with awe.” According to a reliable but confidential source quoted in the story, the two men “visited the booming hub to satisfy ‘their own curiosity’ but also ‘with investment in mind.’”</p>
<p class="p1">And while he told the media he wasn’t interested in doing so at the time of the trip, Buffett soon became a major investor in tar sands related assets. A year after his visit to the oil sands, in November 2009, Buffett’s <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/berkshire-to-buy-rest-of-burlington-northern-for-44-billion/"><span class="s1">Berkshire Hathaway purchased</span></a> <span class="caps">BNSF</span> Railway as a wholly owned subsidiary.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BNSF_Railway"><span class="caps">BNSF</span> Railway</a></span> is the second largest freight <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BNSF_Railway_system_map.svg"><span class="s1">railroad network</span></a> in North America. <span class="caps">BNSF</span> “plans $3.9 billion in capital spending this year, an increase of 11 percent from 2011,” according to a <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-01/buffett-s-railroad-boosts-capital-plan-to-3-9-billion-in-coal-freight-bet.html">recent article</a> by <em>Bloomberg</em>. </p>
<p class="p1"><span class="caps">BNSF</span> serves as a vital cog in the oil sands procurement process. In the November/December 2008 edition of <span class="caps">BNSF</span>’s employee magazine, “Railway,” <span class="caps">BNSF</span> produced a piece titled, “<a href="http://www.bnsf.com/employees/communications/railway-magazine/pdf/200812.pdf"><span class="s1">Alberta oil Sands: No sour deal</span></a>.” </p>
<p class="p1">The article reveals the exact role <span class="caps">BNSF</span> plays in the oil sands procurement process:</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="p1">Before bitumen can move through a pipeline to its destination, it must be blended with diluents (diluting agents) such as natural gasoline (not natural gas, which is a gaseous fuel) or butane, which are composed of lighter weight hydrocarbons.</p>
<p class="p1">For the last two years, <span class="caps">BNSF</span> has been moving single carloads of diluents from <span class="caps">U.S.</span>refineries to the Canadian border (at Superior,Wis., Noyes, N.D., Sweetgrass, Mont., and New West minster, <span class="caps">B.C.</span>). The inbounds are then interchanged with Canadian railroads, then moved to Edmonton, with the final move to the oil sands’ processing center via pipeline.</p>
<p class="p1">Last year, <span class="caps">BNSF</span> moved about 9,000 carloads of diluents for the project, with the majority of loads originating from the Gulf Coast,California and Kansas. This year, about 12,000 carloads are anticipated to move.</p>
<p class="p1">(Snip)</p>
<p class="p1">In addition to moving the diluents, <span class="caps">BNSF</span> has also transported turbines, other large machinery and pipes for use at the drilling sites.</p>
</blockquote>
<p class="p1">Not only does <span class="caps">BNSF</span> haul diluent materials in its freight trains bound for Alberta for tar sands oil procurement, but it also hauls pipes and pipeline materials.</p>
<p class="p1">Does this include materials for the <span class="caps">KXL</span> Pipeline? As the prospective pipeline is <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/205579-report-congress-can-require-keystone-pipeline-approval">not yet officially dead</a>, this is a key question to ask. </p>
<p class="p1">Look no further than to <span class="caps">BNSF</span>’s involvement in hauling the pipeline materials for the original TransCanada Keystone pipeline for crucial evidence.</p>
<h3 class="p1">
<span class="caps">BNSF</span> Railway and the Original Keystone Pipeline</h3>
<p class="p1">A South Dakota state government document shows that <span class="caps">BNSF</span> and TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, <span class="caps">LP</span> entered into a <a href="http://puc.sd.gov/commission/dockets/hydrocarbonpipeline/2007/hp07-001/103108trans1.pdf"><span class="s1">Pipeline License Agreement</span></a> on August 1, 2008. The Agreement called for <span class="caps">BNSF</span> to carry pipeline materials from South Dakota up to the Alberta tar sands.</p>
<p class="p2">The <span class="s1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Pipeline">Keystone Pipeline</a> </span>was the first TransCanada pipeline carrying tar sands crude down from Alberta to Cushing, Oklahoma. </p>
<h3 class="p2">
<span class="caps">BNSF</span> Railway, the <span class="caps">KXL</span> Pipeline, and Railway Alternative</h3>
<p class="p2"><span class="caps">BNSF</span>’s ties to TransCanada are not limited to the Keystone Pipeline – they are also on the State Department’s “<a href="http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/clientsite/keystonexl.nsf/Appendix%20V_Distribution%20List.pdf?OpenFileResource"><span class="s1">Distribution List</span></a>” section of the <a href="http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/clientsite/keystonexl.nsf?Open"><span class="s1">Environmental Impact Statement</span></a> report released in August 2011 on TransCanada’s <span class="caps">KXL</span> pipeline proposal.</p>
<p class="p2">In its <a href="http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/clientsite/keystonexl.nsf/22_KXL_FEIS_Sec_4.0_Alternatives.pdf?OpenFileResource">final Environmental Impact Statement (<span class="caps">EIS</span>)</a>, the State Department acknowledged that railway is both a key alternative to the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> and capable of hauling dilbit around North America to vital markets through 2030, stating,</p>
<blockquote>
Even in a situation where there was a total freeze in pipeline capacity for 20 years, it appears that there is sufficient capacity on existing rail tracks to accommodate shipping…through at least 2030…[S]tatistics from the Department of Transportation,…conservatively estimated that the existing cross-border rail lines from Canada to the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> could accommodate crude oil train shipments of over 1,000,000 bpd (barrels per day).</blockquote>
<p class="p2">Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>, if built, is expected to ship 700,000 bpd of tar sands crude to Port Arthur, Texas, according to <em>Bloomberg</em>. Furthermore, the State Department <a href="http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/clientsite/keystonexl.nsf/22_KXL_FEIS_Sec_4.0_Alternatives.pdf?OpenFileResource">notes</a> that rail transport is also a dirtier alternative than a pipeline, due to the diesel cumbustion inherent in such a scheme.</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="p2">In addition, there would be an increase in the emission of combustion products due to the use of diesel engines which could have an adverse impact on air quality along the route selected. As compared to the proposed Project (Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>), this alternative would have substantially greater <span class="caps">GHG</span> (greenhouse gas) emissions during operation due to the combustion of diesel fuel.</p>
</blockquote>
<p class="p2"><span class="caps">BNSF</span> is eager to haul anything and everything it can. “Whatever people bring to us, we're ready to haul [and if <span class="caps">KXL</span>] doesn't happen, we're here to haul.” Krista York-Wooley, a spokeswoman for <span class="caps">BNSF</span> <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/01/23/bloomberg_articlesLY20WE6K50Z001-LY9YF.DTL&amp;type=printable">said in an interview with <em>Bloomberg</em></a>.</p>
<p class="p2">Buffett’s financial interests in the tar sands, though, go far beyond the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> saga, and into the development of the tar sands more generally, through Berkshire Hathaway’s extensive stock holdings in ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and General Electric. All three corporations are big league financial players in this game.</p>
<h3 class="p2">
Berkshire Hathaway, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and General Electric</h3>
<p class="p1">An August 2011 <span class="s1"><a href="http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2011/08/15/buffett-berkshire-hathaway-stock-holdings-to-l/"><i>Fox Business </i>story </a>revealed</span> Buffett owns 29.1 million shares of stock in ConocoPhillips, 421,800 shares of stock in ExxonMobil, and 7.777 million shares of stock in General Electric. All three of these corporations are deeply tied to the Alberta tar sands.</p>
<p class="p1">As of the Jan. 24 closing stock prices for the three corporations, this amounts to $1.73 billion worth of stock owned by Berkshire in these three Alberta oil sands profiteers.</p>
<p class="p1">ConocoPhillips' <span class="s1"><a href="http://www.conocophillips.com/EN/oilsands/assets/Pages/index.aspx">website</a> notes that it</span> runs the Surmont oil sands project in Alberta. That project produces some <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/01/19/conoco-oilsands-idUSN1921314720100119"><span class="s1">110,000 barrels of tar sands crude per day</span></a> and is expected to run through 2015, according to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/01/19/conoco-oilsands-idUSN1921314720100119"><span class="s1"><i>Reuters</i></span></a>.</p>
<p class="p1">ExxonMobil also has a massive stake in the Alberta Tar Sands through its Canadian subsidiary, Imperial Oil. As <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jPs86Mm4_KXlXE4RrJKEkbchhWrg"><span class="s1">reported by <i>Agence France-Presse</i></span></a><i> </i>in May 2009, ExxonMobil has plans, through its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kearl_Oil_Sands_Project"><span class="s1">Kearl oil sands project</span></a>, to begin producing 110,000 barrels of tar sands crude per day in 2012. ExxonMobil has future plans to produce over 300,000 barrels per day of dirty tar sands crude via the Kearl oil sands.</p>
<p class="p1">ExxonMobil is also deeply invested in oil sands pipelines, exposed in July 2011 for <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/15/exxon-mobil-pipeline-oil-sands-crude_n_900101.html"><span class="s1">carrying oil sands crude</span></a> down from Alberta through Montana in one of its pipelines. The pipeline ruptured, spilling 1,000 barrels of oil into the Yellowstone River.</p>
<p class="p1">Lastly, General Electric (<span class="caps">GE</span>), via its <span class="caps">GE</span> Water <span class="amp">&amp;</span> Process Technologies and <span class="caps">GE</span> Canada subsidiaries, also has much to gain from tar sands oil development, particularly in the area of water holding and usage, once water has been contaminated during the procurement process. </p>
<p class="p1">A <a href="http://www.genewscenter.com/content/detailEmail.aspx?NewsAreaID=2&amp;ReleaseID=10948&amp;AddPreview=False"><span class="s1">September 2010 press release</span></a> reads,</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="p1"><span class="dquo">“</span>In 2007, <span class="caps">GE</span> entered into a $15-million technology development program with the Alberta Water Research Institute and its research funding partners. The program aims to develop technology to improve water reuse and management in in-situ oil sands operations. <span class="caps">GE</span> is also actively involved in developing and proving effective technologies for treating tailings water for industrial reuse, in order to help operators improve the efficiency of their operations.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p class="p1">In addition to its tight-knit financial and research relationship with the Alberta Water Research Institute, <span class="caps">GE</span> also owns a water treatment facility in the tar sands patch through its wholly owned subsidiary, Zenon Environmental Inc., which it <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=GE_Water_%26_Process_Technologies#Water_as_big_business"><span class="s1">purchased</span></a> for <a href="http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/business/story.html?id=73c3b585-e8e2-4387-a4c0-bdc05122983d"><span class="s1">$760 million in 2006</span></a>. Furthermore, in September 2011, <a href="http://www.genewscenter.com/content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=13165&amp;NewsAreaID=2"><span class="s1">Grizzly Oil Sands <span class="caps">ULC</span> announced</span></a> that it had chosen <span class="caps">GE</span>’s water technology for its <a href="http://www.grizzlyoilsands.com/operational-areas"><span class="s1">Algar Lake oil sands project</span></a> in Alberta.</p>
<h3 class="p1">
Buffett Raises Big Bucks for Barack</h3>
<p class="p1">Buffett hosted an Obama fundraiser in August 2007, well before the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries. The minimum donation was $500 to attend and many gave up to $2,300.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="dquo">“</span>About 35 people who gave the higher amount or helped raise money from others met first with Buffett and Obama in a smaller room,” <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2007/aug/16/nation/na-obama16"><span class="s1">wrote the <em>Los Angeles</em> <i>Times</i></span></a>.</p>
<p class="p1">Buffett did not limit his fundraising help in the Democratic primary process to Obama exclusively. He also hosted two multi-million dollar fundraising events for Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid in 2007, one in <span class="s1"><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19453750/ns/politics-decision_08/t/warren-buffett-helps-put-clinton-fundraiser/">June</a> in New York City</span> and another in <span class="s1"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/12/09/warren-buffett-to-headlin_n_76000.html">December</a> in</span> San Francisco.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="dquo">“</span>Guests at a high-dollar fundraiser for Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday were treated to cocktails, dinner and an hour-long business tutorial from billionaire Warren Buffett……[T]he fundraiser…brought in at least $1 million for Clinton…,” <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19453750/ns/politics-decision_08/t/warren-buffett-helps-put-clinton-fundraiser/"><span class="s1">wrote the <i>Associated Press</i></span></a> of the June New York City fundraiser. </p>
<p class="p1">The <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/12/09/buffett-to-headline-fundraiser-for-clinton/"><span class="s1">San Francisco event</span></a>, on the other hand, drew “about 1,200 people,” with tickets costing “between $100 and $2,300.” The event raised over $1 million for the Clinton for President campaign.</p>
<p class="p1">Once Obama won the Democratic Party nomination in May 2008, not long thereafter, <a href="http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iEoh4tPLHPMMok875VIJDcq3FOKg"><span class="s1">Buffett endorsed Obama for President</span></a>. A couple months later, in July, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/us/politics/03donate.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/U/United%20States%20Politics%20and%20Government"><span class="s1">Buffett hosted a fundraiser</span></a> for Obama with a required commitment of the individual maximum $28,500 per attendee, according to the <i>New York Times</i>.</p>
<p class="p1">Buffett has maintained <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/07/picture-of-the-day-obama-meets-with-warren-buffett/242161/"><span class="s1">tight ties</span></a> with President Obama since his November 2008 victory, and <a href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/obama-meets-with-buffett-and-gates/"><span class="s1">has met with</span></a> Obama to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/14/AR2010071405107.html"><span class="s1">discuss economic issues</span></a> on <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-22/obama-spoke-with-berkshire-s-buffett-about-economy-aide-says.html"><span class="s1">multiple occasions</span></a>. Additionally, in February 2011, Obama honored Buffett with a <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-15/obama-honors-buffett-george-h-w-bush-with-medal-of-freedom.html">Presidential Medal of Freedom</a>. </p>
<p class="p1">At the awards ceremony Obama ironically scoffed, “Buffett doesn’t wear ‘fancy ties’ or drive ‘fancy cars.’ Instead, ‘you see him devoting the vast majority of his wealth to those around the world who are suffering, or sick, or in need of help,’” <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-15/obama-honors-buffett-george-h-w-bush-with-medal-of-freedom.html"><span class="s1">wrote <i>Bloomberg</i></span></a> on the scene of the the medal ceremony.</p>
<p class="p1">Most recently, Buffett has hosted Obama campaign fundraisers on September 30 in New York and October 27 in Chicago. Of the New York City Buffett fundraiser, <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/25/news/economy/buffett_obama_fundraiser/index.htm"><span class="s1"><i><span class="caps">CNN</span> Money </i>wrote</span></a>, “The event will bring in a pretty penny for the campaign. The base price is $10,000, while a $35,800 donation will buy a <span class="caps">VIP</span> reception with Buffett, according to the schedule.”</p>
<p class="p1">The Chicago Buffett fundraiser was similar in its extravagance, “with a ticket price of $35,800 per person,” <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-21/buffett-to-attend-chicago-area-fundraiser-for-obama-on-oct-27.html"><span class="s1">according to <i>Bloomberg</i></span></a>, or <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/20/us-incomes-falling-as-optimism-reaches-10-year-low_n_1022118.html"><span class="s1">nearly $10,000 more</span></a> than the 2010 median American income of $26,364. </p>
<p class="p1">Buffett also gave a $30,800 donation to the Democratic National Committee in October 2011, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.</p>
<h3 class="p1">
From TransCanada Corruption to <span class="caps">BNSF</span> Corruption</h3>
<p>While DeSmogBlog and many others thoroughly uncovered the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brendan-demelle/hillary-clinton-keystone-xl_b_1016771.html">corrupt ties</a> between the Obama White House and State Department and the tar sands lobby, the additional Obama-Buffett-industry ties have gotten little play in the media until now. </p>
<p><em>Image credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buffett_%26_Obama.jpg">Pete Souza, Executive Office of the President</a></em></p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/ge">GE</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/general-electric">General electric</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/hilary-clinton">hilary clinton</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/reuters">reuters</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/oil-sands">oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/603">british columbia</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/657">ExxonMobil</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/890">B.C.</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/917">texas</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1165">Alberta</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1278">Associated Press</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1370">cnn</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1493">bloomberg</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1520">Barack Obama</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1570">bill gates</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2540">desmogblog</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5127">conocophillips</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5207">open secrets</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5420">TransCanada</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5538">bitumen</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5573">State Department</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone XL</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6562">keystone</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6950">dilbit</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7174">Bakken Shale</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7461">Warren Buffett</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7463">Berkshire Hathaway</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8206">Gas Flaring</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8225">Democratic National Committee</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8226">CNN Money</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8227">AP</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8228">Grizzly Oil Sands ULC</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8229">Alberta Water Research Institute</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8230">Algar Lake oil sands project</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8231">GE Water &amp; Process Technologies</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8232">GE Canada</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8233">Agence France-Presse</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8234">Yellowstone River</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8235">Kearl oil sands project</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8236">Agence Presse France</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8237">Surmont oil sands project</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8238">Imperial Oil</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8239">Oracle of Omaha</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8240">Railroads</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8241">Railways</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8242">Rail</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8243">Burlington Northern Santa Fe</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8244">BNSF</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8245">Zenon Environmental Inc.</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8246">William Gates</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8247">Flared Gas</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8263">Diesel</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8264">Diesel Combustion</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8265">Union Pacific</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8266">U.S. Chamber for Commerce</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8267">United States Chamber of Commerce</a></div></div></div>Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:00:16 +0000Steve Horn6015 at http://desmogblog.comDemise of Keystone XL Means More Bakken Shale Gas Flaring http://desmogblog.com/demise-keystone-xl-means-more-bakken-shale-gas-flaring
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/NA-Pipeline-Map-Theodora_0.png?itok=1sTdjGc2" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Damned if we do, damned if we don't - this is the <em>CliffsNotes</em> version of the ongoing <a href="http://desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span></a> pipeline debate. President Barack Obama <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/us/state-dept-to-put-oil-pipeline-on-hold.html">recently halted</a> TransCanada's proposed Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> tar sands pipeline project, which would bring tar sands crude, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilbit">dilluted bitumen (“dilbit”)</a> from Alberta through the heart of the U.S., to Gulf Coast refineries near Port Arthur, Texas, where the oil would then be <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=3&amp;ved=0CEIQFjAC&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fpriceofoil.org%2F2011%2F08%2F31%2Freport-exporting-energy-security-keystone-xl-exposed%2F&amp;ei=VsQdT634AcmA2wXe_YjXCw&amp;usg=AFQjCNEjzdSeRFF1cYimayaPpger1Z_s1Q&amp;sig2=eV_dArFAak4F-LiMcdemwA">exported</a> to the global market.</p>
<p>Most environmental organizations declared victory and suggest the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline is dead. Unfortunately, this is far from the case. Republican House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-<span class="caps">OH</span>) recently told <em>The Hill</em> he may <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/205641-boehner-mulls-tying-keystone-approval-to-payroll-tax-cut">attempt to rope the pipeline into the next payroll tax extension</a>. Furthermore, a recent Congressional Research Services (<span class="caps">CRS</span>) <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/205579-report-congress-can-require-keystone-pipeline-approval">paper</a> said that under a little-used Consitutional clause, the two chambers of Congress, rather than the White House, could have the final say on the pipeline's ultimate destiny. <span class="caps">CRS</span> explained, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[I]f Congress chose to assert its authority in the area of border crossing facilities, this would likely be considered within its Constitutionally enumerated authority to regulate foreign commerce.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Because the pipeline crosses the U.S.-Canada border, many thought that the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> State Department, and by extension the White House, had the final say in the manner. This may no longer be true.</p>
<p>On the other hand, even if the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> becomes a “pipe dream,” the grass isn't necessarily greener on the other side.</p>
<!--break-->
<h3>
Enter TransCanada's “Bakken Marketlink Project”</h3>
<p>Two days after Obama's Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> announcement, the <em>Oil and Gas Journal </em>discussed another possible TransCanada pipeline proposal involving the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakken_formation">Bakken shale formation</a>. Below is an <a href="http://www.ogj.com/articles/2012/01/transcanada-mulls-bakken-options-while-reapplying-for-keystone-xl.html?cmpid=EnlPipelineJanuary232012">excerpt</a> (emphases mine): </p>
<blockquote>
<p>TransCanada Corp. is considering possibilities for moving Bakken shale crude south to the <span class="caps">US</span> Gulf Coast <strong>via a stand-alone system</strong> following the <span class="caps">US</span> rejection of the company’s permit application for the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> crude oil pipeline. TransCanada had originally envisioned moving Bakken crude south as part of Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>, concluding a binding open season for its Bakken MarketLink Project in early 2011.</p>
<p><strong>Options for moving Bakken crude south could include…modification of Bakken MarketLink plans to route Bakken production to the existing Keystone pipeline, already delivering Canadian crude to Cushing, Okla</strong>. TransCanada declined to comment on specific possibilities, saying that discussions need to occur with customers and nothing has been finalized.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="http://www.transcanada.com/bakken.html">Bakken Marketlink Project</a> was originally intended to connect the Alberta tar sands to the Bakken Shale oil and unconventional gas production project, via the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> Pipeline. </p>
<p>Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> would have carried a dirty trio of oil, unconventional gas, and bitumen to a <a href="http://www.transcanada.com/cushing.html">refinery in Cushing, <span class="caps">OK</span></a>, a current key pitstop for TransCanada's existing <a href="http://www.transcanada.com/docs/Key_Projects/keystone.pdf">Keystone Pipeline</a>. From Cushing, the oil and gas would travel via pipeline to Port Arthur, <span class="caps">TX</span> refineries and export terminals and on to the global market. </p>
<p>In his January 18 statement on the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>, President Obama indirectly mentioned the Bakken Marketlink project, as well as the idea of extending the existing Keystone pipeline from Cushing to the Gulf, <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/01/18/statement-president-keystone-xl-pipeline">stating</a>,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the months ahead, we will continue to look for new ways to partner with the oil and gas industry…including the potential development of an oil pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma to the Gulf of Mexico…and invest in alternatives like biofuels and natural gas.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Bakken Marketlink would fulfill both the Cushing extension and the <a href="http://desmogblog.com/fracking-the-future/">fracked natural gas</a> prongs of the Obama statement.</p>
<div style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; line-height: 1; ">
<h3>
Will Obama's Pipeline Cancellation Enable Continued Bakken Gas Flaring?</h3>
<p>An important January 23 story appearing in the <em>National Journal</em> <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/member/daily/delivery-problems-20120122">explained</a> (subscription required),</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Most of Washington’s attention to the controversial pipeline has focused on the 700,000 barrels of Canadian oil it would ship daily from Alberta’s carbon-heavy oil sands to refineries in Texas. But <strong>almost a quarter of the pipeline’s capacity would</strong> <strong>have been oil from the recently discovered Bakken shale formation that spans North Dakota and part of Montana</strong>. (Snip)</p>
<p>Although it probably wasn’t intentional, <strong>Obama’s denial of the Keystone permit has made it more difficult for some <span class="caps">U.S.</span> companies to do what his administration and reelection campaign are taking credit for: increasing domestic oil and gas production</strong>. It’s an ironic twist, considering that the Bakken oil link likely sweetened the project for the administration initially.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Despite this development, the <em>National Journal</em>'s Amy Harder noted the Bakken Marketlink Project is still considered a possibility for TransCanada, even without the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>.</p>
<p>Yet, if the Marketlink Project goes down in flames alongside the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>, that means, ironically, more flames in the form of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_flare">gas flaring</a>.</p>
<p><em>The New York Times</em>, in a key <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/business/energy-environment/in-north-dakota-wasted-natural-gas-flickers-against-the-sky.html?pagewanted=all">September 2011 investigation</a>, revealed that <strong>the oil and gas industry flares roughly 30-percent of the gas fracked from the Bakken Shale</strong>. </p>
<p>The Times' Clifford Krauss wrote,</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Every day, more than 100 million cubic feet of natural gas is flared this way </strong>— enough energy to heat half a million homes for a day.</p>
<p>The<strong> flared gas also spews at least two million tons of carbon dioxide </strong>into the atmosphere every year, as much as 384,000 cars or a medium-size coal-fired power plant would emit, alarming some environmentalists.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Why flare? </p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1; "><span class="dquo">“</span>I’ll tell you why people flare: It’s cheap,” </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/business/energy-environment/in-north-dakota-wasted-natural-gas-flickers-against-the-sky.html?pagewanted=all" style="line-height: 1; ">said Troy Anderson</a><span style="line-height: 1; ">, lead operator of a North Dakota gas-processing plant owned by Whiting Petroleum in </span><em style="line-height: 1; ">The Times</em><span style="line-height: 1; "> article. </span><strong style="line-height: 1; ">“Pipelines are expensive: You have to maintain them. You need permits to build them. They are a pain.”</strong></p>
<p>Though cheap, flaring is certainly not good for public health or the environment. <span style="line-height: 1; ">Greener grass? Perhaps not.</span></p>
<h3>
<span style="line-height: 1; ">New Paradigm: No Extreme Energy</span></h3>
<p>The game of pipeline whack-a-mole will continue unabated unless the root of the problem is addressed: prohibiting what Professor Michael Klare calls “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_energy">energy extremism</a>,” or the extraction of tougher to reach, dirtier fossil fuels. Basically, we're grasping for leftovers from the original fossil fuel frenzy, and still ignoring the fact that we're not only running out, we're also cooking the atmosphere with global warming pollution in the process.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1; ">Alas, until we awaken from this delusion, it's still damned if we do, damned if we don't.</span></p>
</div>
<p>Some day maybe we'll pursue a real clean energy future. Until then, it's “pipe dreams” for the foreseeable future.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/oil-sands">oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/603">british columbia</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/642">National Journal</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/662">coal</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/690">new york times</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/917">texas</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1088">North Dakota</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1165">Alberta</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1520">Barack Obama</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2509">alberta tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2540">desmogblog</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2580">alberta oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2800">natural gas</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4170">John Boehner</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4405">mountaintop removal</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5109">gasland</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5419">deepwater drilling</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5420">TransCanada</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5538">bitumen</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5760">josh fox</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone XL</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5887">The Hill</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6344">unconventional gas</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6433">fracking the future</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6562">keystone</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7034">nigeria</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7174">Bakken Shale</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7331">Michael Klare</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7554">Port Arthur</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8199">Cushing MarketLink</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8200">Bakken MarketLink</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8201">Cushing</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8202">Cushing Extension</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8203">Friends of the Earth UK</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8204">Extreme Energy</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8205">Energy Extremism</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8206">Gas Flaring</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8207">Whiting Petroleum</a></div></div></div>Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:38:58 +0000Steve Horn6011 at http://desmogblog.comWithout Facts on Their Side, Oil Shills Try to Buy Keystone Support on Twitterhttp://desmogblog.com/without-facts-their-side-oil-shills-try-buy-keystone-support-twitter
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>As the internet reacts to the <a href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/01/181473.htm">State Department's bold decision to deny the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline proposal</a>, you're likely to come across the moans and cries of the stumbling Goliaths of Big Oil. </p>
<p>Having lost the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> battle, the oil industry and its shills in Washington are falling back on that old reliable strategy to spin the decision. That old reliable strategy is, of course, “spending money” to pollute the public conversation with misinformation.</p>
<p>The <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Chamber of Commerce and the National Republican Congressional Committee want to make sure that no matter what your opinion of the decision, and no matter who you follow, that you won't be able to avoid their political spin. Both groups are paying for “Promoted Tweets” on various Twitter streams relating to the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> decision.</p>
<p>My TweetDeck column that tracks anything tagged #nokxl has had this propaganda sitting atop it for the last couple of hours.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Screen%20shot%202012-01-18%20at%203.41.34%20PM.png" style="width: 301px; height: 108px;" /></p>
<p>Likewise, a search of the term “Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>,” which was trending on Twitter around 3:30 pm Eastern, turned up this gem from the <span class="caps">NRCC</span>.</p>
<!--break-->
<p><img alt="" src="/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Screen%20shot%202012-01-18%20at%203.47.35%20PM.png" style="width: 525px; height: 151px;" /></p>
<p>Playing politics? Playing politics is using the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> proposal to <a href="http://mediamattersaction.org/message/onepagers/201112210001">sabotage</a>, as Congressional Republicans did, a payroll tax cut that would've immediately helped 160 million working Americans.</p>
<p>Twenty thousand jobs? <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/bogus-job-numbers-used-sell-keystone-xl-pipeline">How many times</a> do we have to <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/cornell-report-busts-myth-keystone-xl-job-creation">debunk this completely baseless stat</a>?</p>
<p>So while Big Oil doesn't have the support of the Twitterverse, they have the money to fall back on the Promoted Tweet.</p>
<p>What is a “Promoted Tweet” anyways?</p>
<p><a href="http://support.twitter.com/articles/142101-promoted-products">From Twitter</a>:</p>
<ul><li>
Promoted Tweets are ordinary Tweets purchased by advertisers who want to reach a wider group of users or to spark engagement from their existing followers.</li>
</ul><p>And, “Where do users see Promoted Tweets?” :</p>
<ul><li>
At the top of relevant search results pages on<a href="http://twitter.com/"> twitter.com</a>. Promoted Tweets from our advertising partners are called out at the top of some search results pages on Twitter.com and through select ecosystem partners.</li>
</ul><p><br />
Big Oil may have the money to try to “buy” popular opinion, but they don't have the facts. The truth remains that <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/valero-positioning-export-tar-sands-oil-guarding-pot-gold-end-keystone-xl-pipeline">Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>, if built, would be an export pipeline</a> that would do nothing to increase American energy security, would <a href="http://desmogblog.com/keystone-xl-pipeline-would-increase-oil-prices-midwest">actually increase the cost of oil in the Midwest,</a> and which would create no more than, <a href="http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20120117/keystone-xl-jobs-unions-transcanada-construction-liuna-unemployment-state-department-cornell">according to TransCanada itself</a>, 6,000 temporary jobs on any given day. And that's questionable, since in the long run, this pipeline could <a href="http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/globallaborinstitute/research/upload/GLI_KeystoneXL_Reportpdf.pdf">kill more jobs than it creates [<span class="caps">PDF</span> of Cornell study]</a>.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2521">U.S. Chamber of Commerce</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5420">TransCanada</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone XL</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6562">keystone</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7012">u.s. chamber</a></div></div></div>Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:24:52 +0000Ben Jervey5998 at http://desmogblog.comKeystone XL Pipeline Would Increase Oil Prices in Midwesthttp://desmogblog.com/keystone-xl-pipeline-would-increase-oil-prices-midwest
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/Screen%20shot%202012-01-18%20at%2010.14.20%20AM.png?itok=Tf2Q9ktu" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Twitter is ablaze with the news that the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-obama-administration-to-reject-keystone-xl-pipeline-20120118,0,999641.story">State Department will announce today that the original TransCanada presidential permit application is dead in the water</a>. Details are murky, so stay tuned for more, but what this likely means is that the State Department will allow TransCanada to re-apply for the permit with a new route that avoids the heart of Nebraska's Ogallalla Aquifer.</p>
<p>While it's good to see that President Obama is standing up to oil industry bullying and Republican pressure to fast-track the permit, this still means Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> is very much in play. If it's ever built, Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> will allow the expansion of the Alberta tar sands that climate scientists worry will send us down a dangerous path of global warming pollution. </p>
<p>What's more, the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> tar sands pipeline, if built, <strong>would increase oil prices in the American Midwest</strong>. That’s the shocking takeaway point from a bombshell <a href="http://www.nrdc.org/energy/kxlsecurity.asp">report about Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> as an export pipeline released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Oil Change International</a>.</p>
<p>We’ve reported <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/valero-positioning-export-tar-sands-oil-guarding-pot-gold-end-keystone-xl-pipeline">time</a> and <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/reality-check-new-keystone-xl-report-blows-steven-chu-s-energy-security-claim">time again</a> here on DeSmogBlog, the proposed <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/year-dirty-energy-keystone-xl">Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> tar sands pipeline would not improve America’s energy security</a>, but never has that reality been more clearly conveyed than by this one real-world point that is worth repeating. The Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> tar sands pipeline would increase oil prices in the Midwest.</p>
<p>To understand how, exactly, an increased supply of oil to America could increase oil prices domestically, you have to understand two things about the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline.</p>
<p>First, Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> is is an export pipeline, funneling foreign crude through American soil to Gulf refineries that will profit most by processing the low-grade tar sands crude into diesel to sell to the booming international market.</p>
<!--break-->
<p><img alt="" src="/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Screen%20shot%202012-01-18%20at%2012.49.12%20PM.png" style="width: 461px; height: 503px;" /></p>
<p>If there was any doubt that Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> will essentially operate as a bypass through America, TransCanada’s president <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VucRPHJtvGU.">Alex Pourbaix put it to rest last month in his testimony before Congress</a>. As the report’s authors explain:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>TransCanada recently refused to support a requirement that oil from Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> be dedicated for use in the United States in a recent Congressional hearing.26 In December 2011, Representative Edward Markey asked TransCanada’s President, Alex Pourbaix, to support a condition that would require the oil on Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> to be used in the United States. Mr. Pourbaix refused, saying that such a requirement would cause refineries to back out of their contracts.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So by diverting the oil that would have otherwise poured out into Midwestern refineries, the pipeline would actually reduce American oil supply, thereby increasing prices.</p>
<p>The second important point to understand is that the completion of Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> will suck capacity off of existing pipelines (because Canada already has a huge excess of pipeline export capacity), and would be more expensive to operate than existing pipelines. This point is a little confusing, so I’ll leave it in the hands of the report’s authors.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> will increase the cost to move crude oil by pipeline through the United States. TransCanada has acknowledged that because there is excess export pipeline capacity from Canada, Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> will take oil off of existing cost-of-service pipelines, which will in turn be forced to recover their operating costs from a smaller volume, increasing the per barrel cost of moving oil.34 TransCanada estimated the cost to move the same amount of crude into the United States would increase by $1.37 billion in 2013. However, TransCanada pointed out that oil companies would recover these increased costs and make a profit because the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> market would be paying higher prices for Canadian crude.</p>
<p>Rather than providing the United States with more Canadian oil, Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> will simply shift oil from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast, wher emuch of it can be exported to international buyers — decreasing <span class="caps">U.S.</span> energy supply and increasing the cost of oil in the American Midwest.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Once again, the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> would do nothing to improve American “energy security.” In fact, it would do quite a bit to undermine it. In the words of retired Brigadeer General Steven Anderson, who was in charge of logistics in Iraq, speaking at a press conference this morning, the pipeline “would set back our renewable energy efforts for at least two decades, and do absolutely nothing to move us off Middle East oil.”</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1286">oil</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5362">valero</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5420">TransCanada</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone XL</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6562">keystone</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8149">Alex Pourbaix</a></div></div></div>Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:11:10 +0000Ben Jervey5997 at http://desmogblog.comBechtel Whistleblower Warns Against Keystone XL; Witnessed Shoddy Work on TransCanada’s Keystone Ihttp://desmogblog.com/bechtel-whistleblower-warns-against-keystone-xl-witnessed-shoddy-work-transcanada-s-keystone-i
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span id="internal-source-marker_0.41869841801088525">Back in August, DeSmogBlog’s own </span><a href="../../new-infographic-shows-how-keystone-pipelines-are-built-spill">Emma Pullman co-produced a startling infographic about how the first section of TransCanada’s Keystone pipeline system was “Built to Spill,</a>” with a dozen spills recorded in the pipeline’s first year of operation.</p>
<p>According to a <a href="http://journalstar.com/news/opinion/editorial/columnists/mike-klink-keystone-xl-pipeline-not-safe/article_4b713d36-42fc-5065-a370-f7b371cb1ece.html?mode=story#ixzz1ij2YMF00">must-read bombshell Op-Ed in the </a>Lincoln Journal Star, these spills came as no big surprise to the workers closest to the project. The piece, published on New Years Eve <a href="http://journalstar.com/news/opinion/editorial/columnists/mike-klink-keystone-xl-pipeline-not-safe/article_4b713d36-42fc-5065-a370-f7b371cb1ece.html?mode=story#ixzz1ij2YMF00">by a former Bechtel engineer who worked on that original stretch of pipeline</a>, tells the story of gross safety negligence and lax oversight in constuction of that first Keystone line, and warns against letting TransCanada again bring that threat to American soil.</p>
<p>Mike Klink was an inspector for the project, and claims he was fired by the company after repeatedly raising concerns about the substandard materials and poor construction of the pipeline. Klink warns that the company's missteps and shortcuts that already resulted in 12 spills in one year should serve as fair warning against <a href="../../year-dirty-energy-keystone-xl">TransCanada’s proposed Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline</a>.</p>
<!--break-->
<p><a href="http://journalstar.com/news/opinion/editorial/columnists/mike-klink-keystone-xl-pipeline-not-safe/article_4b713d36-42fc-5065-a370-f7b371cb1ece.html?mode=story#ixzz1ij2YMF00">Klink writes</a>:</p>
<div style="border: 1px solid LightGrey; margin: 10px; padding: 10px; width: 87%;">
<p>I am not an environmentalist, but as a civil engineer and an inspector for TransCanada during the construction of the first Keystone pipeline, I've had an uncomfortable front-row seat to the disaster that Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> could bring about all along its pathway.</p>
</div>
<p>He goes on to describe chronic negligence in Bechtel's operations while building the Keystone I pipeline, including “cheap foreign steel that cracked when workers tried to weld it, foundations for pump stations that you would never consider using in your own home, fudged safety tests, Bechtel staffers explaining away leaks during pressure tests as “not too bad,” shortcuts on the steel and rebar that are essential for safe pipeline operation and siting of facilities on completely inappropriate spots like wetlands.</p>
<p>Klink worries that his experiences working on Keystone I – as well as the multiple spills that have plagued that project from the outset – should be a warning for the proposed Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>. </p>
<p>And he's no treehugging environmentalist railing against all oil pipelines. He <a href="http://journalstar.com/news/opinion/editorial/columnists/mike-klink-keystone-xl-pipeline-not-safe/article_4b713d36-42fc-5065-a370-f7b371cb1ece.html?mode=story#ixzz1ij2YMF00">concludes</a>:</p>
<div style="border: 1px solid LightGrey; margin: 10px; padding: 10px; width: 87%;">
Let's be clear — I am an engineer; I am not telling you we shouldn't build pipelines. We just should not build this one.</div>
<p>Here again is the infographic co-produced by Emma Pullman and Heather Libby:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Keystone-Infographic-REVISED-630.jpg"><img alt="" src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Keystone-Infographic-REVISED-630.jpg" /></a></p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5420">TransCanada</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone XL</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6562">keystone</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6577">pipelines</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8057">bechtel</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8058">Mike Klink</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8059">lincoln journal star</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8060">whistleblower</a></div></div></div>Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:14:06 +0000Ben Jervey5967 at http://desmogblog.comBreaking: State Department Delays Keystone XL Decision Until 2013http://desmogblog.com/breaking-state-department-delays-keystone-xl-decision-until-2013
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/Obama%20tar%20sands_0.gif?itok=GG0G5ukV" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The <a href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/11/176964.htm">State Department announced today</a> that they would “seek additional information” about the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline, meaning that they will take another 12 months at least to re-review the proposed pipeline route. This new review will build on (or make up) for the woefully-incompletely Environmental Impact Statement.</p>
<p>Here's the State Department's official language:</p>
<div style="border: 1px solid LightGrey; margin: 10px; padding: 10px; width: 87%;">
<br /><p>…given the concentration of concerns regarding the environmental sensitivities of the current proposed route through the Sand Hills area of Nebraska, the Department has determined it needs to undertake an in-depth assessment of potential alternative routes in Nebraska. …<br />
Among the relevant issues that would be considered are environmental concerns (including climate change), energy security, economic impacts, and foreign policy.</p>
</div>
<p>The decision comes in the immediate wake of a massive protest at the White House on Sunday, as roughly 12,000 anti-pipeline activists circled the White House in a “solidarity hug.” The action was the latest in a series of protests and events staged by opponents of the proposed TransCanada pipeline that would funnel tar sands crude from Canada down to the Gulf Coast in Texas, much of it bound for export to other nations.<br /><br />
The decision to delay is a clear testament to the power of public engagement in the political process and good old-fashioned protest. But the battle isn't over yet.</p>
<!--break-->
<p><br />
Since the first of the <a href="http://www.onearth.org/tar-sands-jailbirds">civilly disobedience activists</a> was arrested in August, a steady stream of negative news has betrayed the proposed TransCanada pipeline project.</p>
<p>There was the<a href="http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/2133/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6740"> scandalously cozy relationship</a> between TransCanada and the State Department.<a href="http://www.onearth.org/article/nebraskas-pipeline-revolt"> TransCanada got booed out of Memorial Stadium,</a> as sacred a place as exists in all of Nebraska. A report (<a href="http://priceofoil.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/OCIKeystoneXLExport-Fin.pdf"><span class="caps">PDF</span></a>) revealed Valero and other refineries’ plans to export the tar sands crude that would flow through Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>, casting doubt on pipeline proponent’s claims that Canadian tar sands would contribute to American “energy security.” The State Department admitted to<a href="http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20111031/keystone-xl-pipeline-public-hearings-state-department-obama-transcanada-cardno-entrix-oil-sands"> losing tens of thousands of public comments</a> about the pipeline. Industry’s claims of Keystone job creation were found to be<a href="http://www.onearth.org/blog/pipeline-jobs-are-a-pipe-dream-cornell-report-busts-myth-of-keystone-xl-job-creation"> inflated through fuzzy math and outright fabrication</a>.<br /><br />
I believe that it’s safe to say that none of this would have happened – or at least wouldn’t have been exposed and covered by the mainstream media – without the ongoing attention that the<a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23nokxl"> #noKXL</a> movement has been bringing to the pipeline issue.<br /><br />
Bill McKibben of <a href="http://350.org/">350.org</a> explained it like such, on behalf of TarSandsAction:</p>
<div style="border: 1px solid LightGrey; margin: 10px; padding: 10px; width: 87%;">
Six months ago, almost no one outside the pipeline route even knew about Keystone. One month ago, a secret poll of “energy insiders” by the National Journal found that “virtually all” expected easy approval of the pipeline by year’s end. As late as last week the <span class="caps">CBC</span> reported that Transcanada was moving huge quantities of pipe across the border and seizing land by eminent domain, certain that its permit would be granted. A done deal has come spectacularly undone.</div>
<p>Responding to the (then potential) delay, TransCanada’s chief executive Russ Girling took a threatening tone to the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203733504577026681070384336.html">Wall Street Journal on Tuesday</a>, hinting that any delay could kill the pipeline plans altogether. “How long will those customers wait for Canadian crude oil to get to the marketplace before they sort of throw up their hands and say this is just never going to happen?”<br /><br />
The decision is far from final, and the political manuevering was certainly to put the decision off until after the election. But, for now, what started as incredibly long odds (McKibben himself has said that they were 1,000-to-1 when this campaign started back in the summer), is now totally up in the air.<br /><br />
For now, the delay itself is a victory for pipeline opponents. Every month the decision is deterred, TransCanada loses money and the possibility of abandoning the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> entirely goes up.<br /><br />
Two years ago, I talked to Tim DeChristopher (aka Bidder 70) after he had been arrested for “disrupting” a government oil and gas lease auction in Utah’s wildlands. One of his responses carries serious resonance through these Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> actions today.<a href="http://www.good.is/post/q-a-the-climate-crusading-highest-bidder/"> DeChristopher told me</a>:<br /> </p>
<div style="border: 1px solid LightGrey; margin: 10px; padding: 10px; width: 87%;">
You know how Gandhi said you have to “be the change you want to see in the world.” Well the change that most of us wish to see is a carbon tax, but our leaders aren’t doing that for us, so Gandhi’s call is then for us to be the carbon tax. What does that mean – to “be the carbon tax?” To cost the fossil fuel industry money in any way that we can. Getting in their way, slowing them down, shutting them down. Doing whatever we can to be that tax.</div>
<p>Everyone participating in this ongoing Tar Sands Action is “becoming” that carbon tax. They're slowing down TransCanada, slowing down the movement of that crude, slowing down development of the tar sands, and costing the extractive fossil fuel industries money. It might not break the bank, but in the absence of an “official” price on carbon, it’s the best course that climate activists can take.</p>
<p>Now climate hawks have to remain vigilant to ensure that the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline is never built, and none of the other proposed efforts to expand the tar sands development for export markets can be tolerated either. With the news today from the International Energy Agency that the world is <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/09/fossil-fuel-infrastructure-climate-change?CMP=twt_fd">headed for irreversible climate change in the next five years</a> unless we rapidly change our energy system, the planet can't afford the development of the tar sands.</p>
<p>Don't take my word for it, here it is in the words of the <span class="caps">IEA</span>'s chief economist:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The door is closing,” Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, said. “I am very worried – if we don't change direction now on how we use energy, we will end up beyond what scientists tell us is the minimum [for safety]. The door will be closed forever.” </p>
</blockquote>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/oil-sands">oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1165">Alberta</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1220">International Energy Agency</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1286">oil</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5420">TransCanada</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5645">Fatih Birol</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone XL</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6406">Carbon</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6562">keystone</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6584">pipeline</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7671">tarsandsaction</a></div></div></div>Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:27:32 +0000Ben Jervey5845 at http://desmogblog.comValero Positioning To Export Tar Sands Oil, Guarding Pot of Gold at End of Keystone XL Pipelinehttp://desmogblog.com/valero-positioning-export-tar-sands-oil-guarding-pot-gold-end-keystone-xl-pipeline
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/Valero%20Logo.gif?itok=veCESTiH" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div>
In the heated Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> debate, the Canadian company <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/5420">TransCanada</a>, which is attempting to build the line, and the <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/waxman-renews-request-congress-investigate-koch-industries-interest-keystone-xl-pipeline">Koch brothers</a>, who are throwing their considerable weight behind it in the interest of their Koch Industries’ subsidiaries, receive a lot of attention.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<p>But there are other benefactors that are worth a closer look, as nobody stands to benefit as much in the longer term (if the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline is ever built) as the companies that operate the refineries on the Gulf Coast.<br /><br />
Let’s step back and review what the refineries actually do. The diluted tar sands bitumen (or “DilBit”) that would flow through Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> is an ultra-acidic, highly viscous mess, that doesn’t at all resemble the refined petroleum products like diesel or gasoline or even jet fuel that are sold on the commercial markets. DilBit is, in the <a href="http://www.onearth.org/article/tar-sands-pipelines-pose-massive-risks">words of Keith Schneider</a>, ”thick as peanut butter and more acidic, highly corrosive, and abrasive” than typical crude.<br /><br />
This tar sands DilBit needs to be refined before it can be sold. But only certain refineries are capable of handling the corrosive DilBit.</p>
<p>Refiners along the Texas Gulf Coast, where the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline would ultimately deliver tar sands DilBit from Canada, are eager to accomodate. The company that appears positioned to receive and refine more of TransCanada’s crude than anyone else is the <strong><a href="http://www.google.com/finance?cid=37778">Valero Energy Corporation</a> </strong>(<a href="https://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&amp;q=NYSE:VLO"><span class="caps">NYSE</span>: <span class="caps">VLO</span></a>).</p>
<p><!--break--></p>
<p><strong>Valero “Dedicated” To Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> - And Ready To Profit From It</strong><br />
Valero is the world’s largest independent refiner, with 15 refineries that have a collective capacity to process 2.9 million barrels per day. While their commitments to TransCanada are confidential, Valero is publicly “<a href="http://plattsenergyweektv.com/story.aspx?storyid=169862&amp;catid=293">dedicated</a>” to the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> project, and their 310,000 barrels per day Port Arthur, Texas refinery would receive the Alberta-born crude. Valero has invested heavily to upgrade the Port Arthur plant to handle “heavy” “sour” crude (a.k.a. tar sands DilBit) for the past few years, anticipating the pipeline’s completion.<br /><br />
The company has long hoped for a steady supply of Alberta’s tar sands crude, first signing on to Keystone in July of 2008. In 2010, when the Texas company was <a href="http://desmogblog.com/largest-donor-prop-23-has-ties-tar-sands">pouring money into California’s Prop 23 battle,</a> spokesperson Bill Day <a href="http://xn--http-996a//thetyee.ca/News/2010/10/25/Prop23/">urged that Alberta</a> is “a tremendous potential supplier for us.” <br /><br />
While their involvement with Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> has largely flown under the radar, Valero was exposed in the bombshell “<a href="http://priceofoil.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/OCIkeystoneXL_2011R.pdf">Exporting Energy Security: Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> Exposed</a>” (<a href="http://priceofoil.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/OCIkeystoneXL_2011R.pdf"><span class="caps">PDF</span></a>) report by Oil Change International in September. The report found that, despite constant claims by TransCanada and other Keystone supporters of increased “energy security,” much of the crude that flows through Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> would be exported. Valero was held up as a prime example of how and why. From that report:</p>
<div style="border: 1px solid LightGrey; margin: 10px; padding: 10px; width: 87%;">
Valero, the top beneficiary of the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline, has recently explicitly detailed an export strategy to its investors. The nation’s top refiner has locked in at least 20 percent of the pipeline’s capacity, and, because its refinery in Port Arthur is within a Foreign Trade Zone, the company will accomplish its export strategy tax free.</div>
<p><br />
Shell’s subsidiary Motiva and Total, both “shippers” with long-term contracts with TransCanada, also operate in this Foreign Trade Zone, meaning that they are exempt from customs duties on imports and exports, and also from state and local taxes.<br /><br />
In other words: they can sell the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> crude overseas without paying American taxes. Combine that with the fact that the Port Arthur plants are conditioned to take low-grade tar sands crude and refine it to diesel–which has much higher demand overseas– and the incentive for Valero to export the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> crude is huge.<br /><br />
The Oil Change International report caused quite the stir, and put Valero on the defensive. Company spokesperson <a href="http://plattsenergyweektv.com/story.aspx?storyid=169862&amp;catid=293">Bill Day told Platts EnergyWeek</a> that “the vast majority of products that Valero makes in the <span class="caps">US</span> are sold in the <span class="caps">US</span>…As far as I know, we've never said anything about exporting products to China, nor do we have plans to.”<br /><br />
On China, Day was referring to a statement by Sierra Club president Michael Brune, which was technically inaccurate. Despite Brune’s error, Valero’s overall export strategy is clear and obvious to anyone who takes the time to read their <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9NDQxMTczfENoaWxkSUQ9NDYzMTc1fFR5cGU9MQ==&amp;t=1">September report to investors</a>.<br /><br />
Here are two telling slides.<br /><br />
This map shows clearly the company’s strategy to export diesel from the Gulf Coast refineries (like Port Arthur) to European, Mexican, and South American markets, while importing gasoline from overseas.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/valero%20export%20strategy.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 446px;" /><br /><br /><br />
And here is a slide showing explicitly Valero’s plans to export diesel to the strong European market.</p>
</div>
<p><img alt="" src="/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/valero%20gulf%20exports.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 450px;" /></p>
<p>Finally, here's their slide on the Port Arthur plant, which is ready “to process over 150,000 barrels/day of high-acid, heavy sour Canadian crude,” and which produces “high-quality diesel and jet fuel for growing <em><strong>global demand </strong></em>for middle distillates, and is “located at large, Gulf Coast refinery to leverage existing operations and <em><strong>export logistics</strong></em>.” (Emphasis mine.)</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/port%20arthur.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 410px;" /></p>
<p>If there's any doubt that Valero intends on exporting the tar sands crude that Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> delivers, this <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9NDQxMTczfENoaWxkSUQ9NDYzMTc1fFR5cGU9MQ==&amp;t=1">investor presentation</a> should put that to rest.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5007">gulf coast</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5274">Prop 23</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5362">valero</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5420">TransCanada</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone XL</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6562">keystone</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6577">pipelines</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6583">crude</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6950">dilbit</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7372">export</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7582">refineries</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7583">tar sands crude</a></div></div></div>Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000Ben Jervey5824 at http://desmogblog.comOil Industry Co-Opts Occupy Movement to Sell the Keystone XL Pipelinehttp://desmogblog.com/oil-industry-co-opts-occupy-movement-sell-keystone-xl-pipeline
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/99percent.jpg?itok=uw90XCcK" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The <span class="caps">AFL</span>-<span class="caps">CIO</span>'s <a href="http://www.bctd.org/About-Us.aspx">America's Building Trades Unions</a> and <a href="http://www.ongil-mc.org/">Oil and Natural Gas Industry Labor-Management Committee</a> are attempting to co-opt the Occupy movement with a new initiative to try to get the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> tar sands pipeline approved. <a href="http://jobsforthe99.com">Jobs for the 99%</a> likens the <a href="http://www.tarsandsaction.org/">growing celebrity support</a> against the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline to an occupation of sorts. “Celebrities are taking over <span class="caps">DC</span>” the website says, and “Hollywood’s elite 1% should stop flying to <span class="caps">DC</span> and speaking out against jobs that help the other 99% of America!” </p>
<p>Pitting celebrity support of anti-Keystone efforts against average Americans, “Jobs for the 99%” tells us that wealthy celebrities are killing valuable jobs, and that by telling the White House to support Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>, “we” can act in solidarity with the 99%. </p>
<p>You gotta hand it to them, it's a bold move. But here's why it's misleading and you shouldn't buy it. Hijacking the occupy movement to create a climate killing pipeline is a boon to the 1% who will harvest the profits. The 99% only get a few short term jobs (<a href="http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/globallaborinstitute/research/upload/GLI_KeystoneXL_Reportpdf.pdf">or not</a>), not long term sustainable employment. That's why oil and gas companies, some of the largest and most notoriously corrupt corporations in the world, are backing this astroturf campaign with some serious funding.</p>
<p>And they're handing down the public health and environmental costs associated with a potential spill - and the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/29/idUS257590805720110829">“game over”</a> climate change that expanding tar sands production will cause - back to the 99%.</p>
<!--break-->
<div>
<div>
<a href="http://jobsforthe99.com/">Jobs for the 99%</a> reads a lot like a TransCanada advertisement. It details favourable industry information on Keystone and proposed Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipelines and urges viewers to 'have their voice heard' by calling the White House directly through the website to urge Obama to support the pipeline. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
But Jobs for the 99 have their facts wrong in major ways. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
A “<a href="http://jobsforthe99.com/about">facts page</a>” about Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> lists the supposed benefits, including “20,000 immediate private sector jobs”, economic growth, and local tax revenue benefits of the pipeline. Actually, it will not create nearly the number that the oil industry suggests, and while a TransCanada-financed study says the project will create <a href="http://www.transcanada.com/economic_benefits.html">20,000 temporary jobs</a>, the State Department's analysis says the pipeline will realistically create only <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44386975/ns/us_news-christian_science_monitor/#.TmRsboLbzSs">5,000-6,000</a> temporary construction jobs for three years. And a <a href="http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/globallaborinstitute/research/upload/GLI_KeystoneXL_Reportpdf.pdf">Cornell study</a> [<span class="caps">PDF</span>] suggests the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> project may actually cost more jobs than it creates by driving up the cost of gasoline.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The “Jobs for the 99%” website also maintains that the pipeline will be built with “safety and quality construction”. But if we judge by <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/29/keystone-pipeline-infographic_n_941069.html">TransCanada's spill record</a>, we shouldn't be convinced. Since its Keystone I pipeline came online in June of 2010, it <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/oil-spills-expected-if-keystone-xl-pipeline-is-approved.html">suffered a dozen spills</a> - more than any other first-year pipeline in <span class="caps">U.S.</span> history. That is particularly troubling since the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> would cross one of the largest aquifers in the world – the Ogallala – which supplies drinking water to millions of mid-Westerners and provides 30% of the nation’s groundwater used for irrigation.</div>
<div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
The website boldly claims that the pipeline will “help reduce our dependency on oil from the Middle East”. But <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/open-letter-oprah-winfrey-ethical-oil-ads">TransCanada’s own research</a> demonstrates the folly of this claim. The Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline <em>was never meant to decrease our reliance on foreign oil</em>, just to keep Gulf Coast refineries at capacity and enable exports to overseas markets. Global demand for oil keeps going up, and a marginal shift in Canadian and <span class="caps">US</span> consumption will be offset by growing demand from other countries, keeping prices high. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The viewer is told that if the pipeline is not approved, <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/canada-will-look-to-sell-oil-elsewhere-if-us-balks-at-keystone-xl-oliver/article2217790/">Canada will simply sell its oil to Europe or Asia</a>. But research shows that much of the oil is actually destined for foreign markets anyway. Plus <a href="http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/11/03/actual-co-opting-of-the-99-movement-for-the-tar-sands-pipeline/">oil goes to the global marketplace</a>, not directly into the gas tanks of Americans.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The Oil and Natural Gas Industry Labor-Management Committee website is “under construction,” but their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.100962870059.91317.67945990059&amp;type=3">Facebook page</a> links to <a href="http://energytomorrow.org">http://energytomorrow.org</a>, an American Petroleum Institute site. <span class="caps">API</span> represents the interests of the 1%. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
People certainly need jobs and are looking for them. But let's be clear: if we want to create a lot of jobs, we should work to create a a clean energy economy that will create lasting jobs and a sustainable future, not more short-term profits for rich oil executives. </div>
</div>
<br /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/643">American Petroleum Institute</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2738">oilsands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4499">API</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5420">TransCanada</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone XL</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6562">keystone</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7615">jobsforthe99.com</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7616">Jobs for the 99%</a></div></div></div>Fri, 04 Nov 2011 03:14:21 +0000Emma Pullman5832 at http://desmogblog.com